


The Twelve Dancing Princesses

by one_go_alone



Category: Tsubasa - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-16
Updated: 2008-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-30 20:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/335741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_go_alone/pseuds/one_go_alone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A re-telling and expansion of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," TRC-style. </p><p>Originally written for, and a winner in, the <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/kuroxfai/503160.html">Spring Challenge</a> at <span></span><a href="http://kuroxfai.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://kuroxfai.livejournal.com/"></a><b>kuroxfai</b> in 2006.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basic fairytale is [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Dancing_Princesses). I am working from/often quoting [this version](http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Dancing-Princesses-Mulberry-Books/dp/068814392X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-0170234-2441712?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176443452&sr=8-2) because it's so pretty.
> 
> Thanks to [](http://leathansparrow.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://leathansparrow.livejournal.com/)**leathansparrow** for beta-ing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the King is frustrated, the Magician is not helpful, and the Archivist is eager.

_Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a King who had twelve beautiful daughters. The King loved his daughters, each as bright and lovely as the next, and at his Queen’s request, kept careful watch over all of them. They lived happily, and all was well._

_But the Queen fell ill, and her ailment was without cure. So, dying and wishing for some assurance before she left this world, the Queen summoned a sorcerer to divine her daughters’ fortune._

_The Sorcerer came to the Queen’s bedside, and with his staff drew a circle upon the floor. Into the circle he cast twelve stones, all different in shape and color, then held out his hand over them, causing the circle to glow and the stones to move._

_“ **One through twelve, like the hours of a clock, first to last, twelve daughters you have,** ” he said, eyes burning bright as he gazed at something beyond sight, “ **All as beautiful as the many months of the year. They are the future!**_

_“ **But the Twilight will claim them, no mortal love will they know. No earthly happiness will they share. Their secret is hidden between this world and the next. It will not easily be found.** ” And with that, he vanished back up into the mountains from whence he had come._

_This prophecy tormented the dying Queen. In an attempt to soothe her fear and grief before she died, the King increased the guard around the palace, and began to lock the door of his daughters’ bedroom at night, in hopes of keeping danger at bay._

_Years passed, and all seemed well. The King began to think that the prophecy was wrong, and that all the worry had been for naught._

_Until the morning that he came to unlock his daughters’ door and greet them, only to discover that all of their satin dancing shoes had been worn full of holes._

_This happened night after night, and the brand new dancing shoes that they would receive each day would be completely worn through by the following morning. Nor was that the only sign of trouble, for the sisters’ radiant complexions began to take on a pale, unearthly light, and their warm hearts hardened and grew cold._

_The King questioned them, scolded them, even broke down and pleaded with them, but all to no avail. They shook their heads and calmly refused to answer. The mystery of how they could wear out their dancing slippers every night without leaving a locked room remained unsolved._

_“Surely the princesses are cursed,” ran the whispers, which angered the King, though he could not stop them._

_Finally, desperate, the King sent out word that whoever could discover the princesses’ secret could have one of them for his bride. Princes and knights came from faraway lands to try their luck. Each in turn was led to a chamber off the princesses’ bedroom to stand watch at night, to try and discover their secret. By morning, each and every one had vanished without a trace._

_Slowly, those brave enough to risk this fate became smaller and smaller in number, and the princesses still refused to speak._

_Finally, the last one had taken his turn and vanished like all the rest. The King, gazing down at his beloved daughters with anguish, listened to their silence and at last bowed his head, dismissing them. They departed, leaving him to sit on his throne and rage at his own helplessness in the face of such a curse._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurogane sat in the empty throne room for a long time after his daughters had left, thinking. It had been nearly two years since he had first found their dancing slippers worn through, and he was still no closer to solving the mystery.

/I don’t understand how anything can happen when they are locked in for the night, and I am the only one who holds the key,/ he thought, clenching his fists and glaring out at the empty room. /And there were no reported strangers in or near the palace before it started, nothing!/

With a snarl, he rose from the throne and paced out of the room, taking a side door that led him onto a balconied walkway along the back of the castle, where the view looked up at the towering, cloud-wreathed mountains. /Dozens of knights and princes have tried and failed, disappeared completely! _I’ve_ tried three times, and something put me to sleep every time, so I slept deeply and didn’t wake until morning. Damn it all!/

He stood there, staring up at the dark monoliths for a long time, wrestling with himself. Then, at last, he closed his eyes and let out a short, low whistle into the warm spring air.

“Magician,” he called, “I want to talk with you.”

Stillness for another long moment, broken only by whispers of the wind, but then a blue-white glow suddenly blossomed behind Kurogane on the balcony. When the glow had faded, he turned, arms still crossed over his chest, to glower at the man who had materialized there.

The sorcerer was a thin man, about a head shorter than Kurogane himself, with wind-blown golden hair and a pair of stunningly blue eyes. He wore his usual outfit, black trousers and a white tunic-shirt, with a long blue robe thrown over them. In his hand was his staff, golden and topped with crystal.

“Your Most Illustrious Transcendency, how may I serve you?” he swept into a low bow, then looked up at Kurogane, a mischievous grin hovering around the corners of his mouth (but not his eyes, never those).

“Don’t call me ridiculous things,” the red-eyed King growled, leaning back against the railing and gesturing curtly for the other man to rise. When he had done so, Kurogane stared at him intently for a long moment before speaking again. “Has it changed?”

The sorcerer matched the stare with a pleasantly vacant smile (as always) and cool blue eyes. “It has not.”

Kurogane snarled and looked away, staring out at the view without really seeing it. Not that he had expected otherwise, but there had to be something! Something that he had overlooked, something that he had forgotten or dismissed. Anything.

“Did Your Most Renowned Eminence have further need of my humble skills? I am pleased to serve in any way that I can,” the sorcerer continued, snapping Kurogane out of his thoughts to level a rather automatic glare at the blue-eyed man.

“No. Don’t call me that. You may go,” he dismissed the man shortly.

“Your Greatest Benevolence is certain?” the sorcerer pressed. Why he sometimes pushed for further conversation, Kurogane was never certain, and had never asked.

“No. Get out of my sight.” Kurogane turned away, refusing to acknowledge either the calm, knowing smile or the bow he received in return. Blue-white light flared again briefly around the sorcerer, and when it had died away, he was gone.

It was a frustrating repeat of the same conversation they had had many times over the past two years; the same summons, the same question, and always the same answer. The only things that changed were the ridiculous titles the magician came up with to annoy him. But the important thing - the prophecy about his daughters’ fate - never changed.

Refusing to acknowledge the emotion he was beginning to feel as despair, the King stalked back inside. It was time to open court for the day; the running of the kingdom could not be put on hold merely to give him more time to brood.

/I will find a solution,/ he vowed, /I _will_./

He crossed the great room, made of the same white marble as the rest of the palace and touched everywhere with gold, its high vaulted ceiling pierced by many windows to let in the blue sky and bright sunlight. It was a beautiful room, but it, like the rest of his kingdom, held no joy for him while his daughters remained bewitched. He strode quickly through it, and pulled open the double-doors peremptorily.

“Your Majesty, you should really pull the bell when you are ready to begin court, and I will-” admonished his Chamberlain, Yukito, but Kurogane had already turned away.

“I’m perfectly capable of opening the doors myself,” he growled, and stalked back to his throne. “Let them in.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” the Chamberlain muttered with long-suffering patience.

The throne room was soon filled with people, many waiting in a line to have their audience with the King, others grouped and chatting at the edges of the room. Fortunately for Kurogane, the Court Season was nearly over, and as spring progressed, more and more of the nobles were retreating out to their country estates for the summer. This meant that most of the problems to be brought before the King were those of the common people; planting issues and conflicts over pastureland, much more down-to-earth and easily solvable problems than the never-ending intrigues of the nobles. Kurogane always welcomed the coming of spring with a profound sense of relief, especially since he no longer had a Queen to help him deal with the more social aspects of his court.

/And my daughters are less than helpful./ Even his eldest, Tomoyo, who had once been so supportive and loving after her mother’s death, had withdrawn inside the walls the sisters had built up around themselves since the beginning of the curse. They rarely went anywhere without each other, and generally spurned company. Only from Sakura, the youngest, did he occasionally catch glimpses of the girl she had been before the curse had stolen her heart and laughter away.

Fortunately for the brooding King, today’s line of petitioners was not long, and their problems easily dealt with. Soon the floor before the throne was empty, those who remained in the hall attending to their own business with each other. Kurogane gazed out at it all with distracted crimson eyes for several moments before he realized that someone was timidly trying to get his attention.

Looking down, he met the brown-haired, brown-eyed form of his newest scribe, a boy named Syaoran who was currently serving as his Archivist. Syaoran, the son of a country gentleman, had only come to court about a month earlier, but had already proved himself quite skilled and level-headed. Kurogane found himself reluctantly approving of the boy, even if he was too timid on occasion.

“What is it, boy?” Kurogane asked, gruff but not unkind.

Straightening, Syaoran came closer, giving him a small smile and bowing. “Good morning, your Majesty. I just wanted to know what you would like me to work on next; I’ve finished cataloging all the books on sorcery.”

Kurogane, having only given him said assignment a week ago, was impressed. He gave the boy an acknowledging nod, then eyed him speculatively.

“You’ll start going through the treasury next; I need a catalogue there too, and it should keep you busy for awhile. Ask me or use the library if you need help identifying things. Get the key from the Guard Captain.”

Syaoran bowed again, his face eager, “Yes, your Majesty!”

Kurogane held back a grin. “Be careful with anything that looks magical. It won’t do me any good if you go turning into a frog or some such thing.”

Syaoran ducked his head, nodding. “Those would be best dealt with by a wizard,” he agreed.

Kurogane, reminded of the sorcerer and his unhelpful prattle, frowned slightly. “There hasn’t been a Court Wizard here since before my father’s reign.”

“I wonder why….” Syaoran trailed off, looking thoughtful, then recalled himself and bowed hastily. “I’ll get started today, your Majesty!”

With that, he hurried off, already muttering to himself about procuring a good lamp and what cataloguing system might be best.

Kurogane shook his head, then got up from the throne and headed out of the room, giving the Chamberlain a brief nod. He needed to go somewhere quiet, and think it all through one more time. There _had_ to be a way to break this curse!

^~^~^~^~^~^

Syaoran took off at an easy trot as soon as he was out of the throne room, feet automatically turning him in the direction of the courtyard where the main guard house was. The Captain of the Guard, Souma, was most likely to be there, so Syaoran could get the treasury key from her and get started on his latest assignment right away. Sorting through the King’s treasury sounded incredibly interesting.

/And who knows? Maybe I’ll come up with something that can help with the curse. I skimmed a lot of those sorcery books in the library, too, but I didn’t see anything there. I wonder what happened…maybe I should go look at the prophecy again. There might be a clue there…bet no one’s actually looked at it closely for years./

His thoughts kept him occupied until he reached the guard house. Once there, he knocked politely on the door and waited. The door was pulled open a minute later by the Ryuuoh, a fosterling from the next kingdom over and already becoming a good friend.

“Ah, Syaoran! Come on in!” The other boy grinned and stepped back, gesturing broadly.

“Thank you,” Syaoran said, coming in and closing the door. “Is Captain Souma here?”

“Yep! She’ll be down in a minute. Whatcha need her for?”

“His Majesty has said that I’m to catalogue the treasury as my next assignment, so I must get the key from Captain Souma,” Syaoran explained, grinning excitedly. “How have you been, Page Ryuuoh?”

“Would you stop with the ‘Page’ thing?” the other boy complained, grimacing at him, before sighing and letting it relax into a grin. “Not bad. Captain runs me near ragged sometimes, but-”

“But you’ll never make a decent knight if you can’t learn to work now,” the woman in question cut in, descending the ladder-like staircase from the upper level of the guard house. “Good morning, Archivist. How may I help you?”

“Good morning, Captain. His Majesty has set me the task of cataloguing the treasury, and said that I could get a key from you,” Syaoran explained, bowing slightly.

“Ah, of course. Just a moment,” she said, nodding, and disappeared back upstairs.

“The treasury, huh?” Ryuuoh asked then, perching himself on a table and crossing his legs, leaning forward excitedly. “I’d like to see that! There must be all kinds of amazing things in there!”

“His Majesty did say it would keep me busy for awhile,” Syaoran admitted, not hiding his own eagerness very well. “There are probably all sorts of really old things; jewelry and artifacts…maybe even some books that never got put into the library….”

“Think of the weapons!” Ryuuoh sighed happily and fell back until he was lying across the table. “Much better than any of the practice swords in here….”

“The swords here are perfectly acceptable,” Souma cut in, coming down the ladder again, “and you’ll have your own at the proper time.”

“Yes, Captain,” Ryuuoh said automatically, then went on quickly, “but since I’ve got all my morning chores done, couldn’t I go with Syaoran to see the treasury? Just for a little bit?”

“Here’s the key, Archivist,” Souma said, handing Syaoran an ornate iron key, and then turning to face Ryuuoh with a stern look. “Learning to be a knight requires discipline, of both mind and body. Frivolities weaken concentration-”

“I know, Captain, I know! But it’s just for a bit, and it’s not a frivolity anyway - it’s reminding myself of what I’m working _towards_ ,” Ryuuoh argued, sliding off the table and standing at attention. “Please, Captain? I’ll work twice as hard this afternoon.”

“I don’t mind, Captain,” Syaoran put in, giving his friend an encouraging smile.

Souma eyed them both for a moment, then sighed and acquiesced with a wave. “You will at that. Very well, but you’re to be back here by noon-tide and no later.”

“Yes, Captain!” Ryuuoh grinned and started tugging Syaoran towards the door. “Come on, let’s go! What’s the fastest way to the treasury?”

Laughing, Syaoran hurried to keep up. “It’s down near the cellars, at the back.”

“Then I know a shortcut,” the other boy declared, “this way!”

‘This way’ meant out through a side door of the courtyard, and then around the outside of the castle through some of the smaller gardens, including that belonging to the Princesses.

“If we go in this door here,” Ryuuoh explained, leading the way, “I know we come to a hall that’s near the entrance to the cellars. But you’ll have to lead the way from there.”

“All right,” Syaoran said, nodding and taking the lead once they had slipped through the small side door from the garden. “Ah, now I see where we are. You’re right, it should be just up ahead and around this corn-!”

The sudden shock of bumping into someone rather hard cut they Archivist off and knocked him back into Ryuuoh, who steadied him. When he looked up, though Syaoran let out a small noise of dismay and was quick to bow to hide the heat growing in his cheeks.

The person he had just run into so carelessly was the youngest of the princesses, Sakura. She had been supported by her sisters behind her, and though slightly dazed, appeared unhurt.

“M-My apologies, Princess Sakura! Your Highnesses!” Syaoran stammered out quickly, still bent nearly double so as to avoid looking at them.

“I-It’s fine,” Sakura returned, still sounding dazed. Syaoran missed the slight blush coloring her cheeks as well, more concerned about the cool glances he was receiving from the other princesses. He took himself out of their way quickly, standing with head bowed against the wall as they ushered Sakura forward and went on their way; likely out to the garden.

When they had gone, Ryuuoh waited only a moment longer before sniggering and punching Syaoran lightly on the shoulder. “I know who Syaoran likes~” he teased, even as Syaoran colored again and looked away quickly.

“I-It’s nothing,” he insisted, stubbornly.

“You like Princess Sakura!” the other boy crowed delightedly, nudging him forward again. “You’ve got a fancy for her, haven’t you?”

“Even if I did,” Syaoran said, unexpectedly sober. “It wouldn’t make any difference.”

At that, Ryuuoh quieted as well. “Because of the curse?” he asked softly, peering around quickly as though something unsavory would come out of the walls merely at the mention of it.

Syaoran nodded. “I could never marry her anyway, but I wish I could do something to help them.”

“Hey, you know what the King said! Whoever solves the mystery gets one of them for his bride,” the page pointed out, grinning at him.

“What are the chances of my being able to do that, though?” Syaoran asked, still serious, as they headed down the stairs to the lower parts of the castle.

“You never know,” Ryuuoh said, and went on to make several suggestions of precisely how Syaoran could go about doing it, each wilder than the last, until they reached the huge double doors that guarded the treasury.

At which point both boys promptly forgot their discussion in favor of the glittering wonders that lay inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Archivist is helpful, the King is hopeful, and the Magician continues to be enigmatic.

Kurogane spun and landed one last, devastating kick on the dummy in the middle of the training room before finally stopping and stepping back, letting his hands drop to his sides as he caught his breath. Sweat trickled down his temples and bare chest, and he went over to the side of the room to get a towel and dry off a bit before starting the next part of his daily routine. 

There hadn’t been a full-out war since early in his father’s reign, but there were always bandits around, and the occasional border skirmish, so it was good to stay in shape and in practice. A soft king would only get his kingdom into trouble and Kurogane had no intentions of letting that happen, even if he was getting a bit older. 

Looking over the weapons hanging on the wall, the King decided on a sword and removed it from its hooks, inspecting it carefully before beginning. It was perfectly clean and in good condition - he’d have to remember to tell Queen Kendappa that her fosterling was doing a good job next time he saw the other monarch. Ryuuoh was definitely no disappointment (if Souma’s reports were any indication) and Syaoran was holding his own as well. It had only been two weeks since Kurogane had assigned him the task of going through the treasury, and the boy had already accomplished quite a bit. Indeed, everything was going quite smoothly….

The princesses’ dancing slippers were still worn full of holes every morning.

There had been no new candidates offering to try and solve the mystery. 

Kurogane narrowed his eyes and in a burst of speed and energy took the head of the practice dummy with one, powerful swing of the sword. Then he forced himself to be calm again, took a deep breath, and let out a low whistle. 

“Magician,” he called, “I want to talk with you.”

He didn’t know whether or not the man would come. Often, the sorcerer had responded to his summons, but other times he had not, for reasons that Kurogane had never been able to discern. When asked, the man himself had only given a cryptic smile, and the King had been unable to figure out what had been different on those times when he did not appear. It certainly didn’t seem to be location, since Kurogane had summoned him from some rather obscure points in the palace, and the sorcerer had never had trouble appearing in any of them. 

The red-eyed King wasn’t entirely sure why he kept his meetings with the sorcerer a secret, though he supposed that keeping further rumors from spreading had a lot to do with it. The magician himself did not seem to have spoken about it to anyone, although the King knew that he told fortunes and cast or undid charms for subjects throughout the kingdom. 

This time, it seemed, he was free, for the blue-white light blossomed off to one side of the room and the blue-eyed man materialized with his usual, cheerful smile. Immediately, he swept into an elaborate bow. 

“Good afternoon, Your Great-” straightening, he cut off with a raised eyebrow at the sight of Kurogane without his shirt on, before continuing, “-ly Perspiring Luminance. How might I be of service?” He smirked slightly, still watching. 

“Stop making up ridiculous titles,” Kurogane growled, crimson eyes narrowed at blue. “Has it changed?”

“No, Your Most Pre-eminent Magnanimity, it has not.”

Kurogane held in a sudden surge of anger, instead turning to the now-headless dummy and beginning to attack it with powerful, well-practiced strokes, not bothering to feint when it would need to be repaired anyway.

“Do you know how to change it?” he asked, thinking to try a different tack. /I’ve always been so frustrated before, I didn’t ask him anything else./

“I do not,” came the reply, quiet and without any hint of teasing. Kurogane could feel blue eyes watching him intently. 

“Can it be changed?” He continued his practice, not supposing that the idiot was particularly open to intimidation, but also supposing that it couldn’t hurt. 

“I do not know,” was the response. Kurogane finished one last stroke that finally split what was left of the dummy neatly in two, before turning back to the sorcerer. 

The blue eyes snapped back into focus as he turned, as if they’d been distracted, but even underneath the smile that slipped easily into place over whatever had been there a moment before, Kurogane did not sense any lie (other than the smile itself, of course). They stared each other down for a long moment, neither willing to look away, until finally the King snarled and turned away, stalking back to the wall to replace the practice sword on its pegs. 

“Do you know _anything_ useful?” Kurogane muttered, somewhat uncharitably and not particularly caring. 

“I know lots of things, Your Querulous Loftiness,” the sorcerer pretended to pout briefly. Then his mouth slid into a smirk again. “I am quite skilled in many areas of magic other than fortune-telling, as I’m sure Your Most Irascible Magnificence is aware. I’m happy to serve….”

Kurogane glared. “Stop calling me those things. I’ve no need of such things. Go.” 

The sorcerer eyed him thoughtfully, still smirking, for another long moment, before at last bowing and fading away into light without another word.

Kurogane swore and kicked one of the dummy halves across the room to vent his anger before leaving for a bath. He really wasn’t sure why he kept summoning the idiot magician when all it did was make him more frustrated than before. 

^~^~^~^~^~^

Syaoran crouched down to peer more closely at the runes decorating the gold-plated shield he was trying to identify. /That set there might be ‘protected’…or maybe ‘presented’…the third symbol in has been dented a bit. Maybe if I could get a tracing-/

“The weapons in here are spectacular!” Ryuuoh sighed blissfully, making yet another circle around Syaoran. The Archivist was crouched in the middle of one of the treasury antechambers, sorting through the pile of stuff there while his friend wandered around in the clear spaces, gazing up at all the swords and lances and bows hung on the walls and occasionally poking through other piles to see if any had been hidden away.

“Mm-hmm,” Syaoran replied absently. /I think its ‘presented,’ actually. ‘This shield presented, with honor, to….’/

Ryuuoh, poking into a corner he’d missed before, spotted the hilt of what looked like a dagger, and decided that a quick peek wouldn’t hurt. He’d taken to spending much of his free time with Syaoran over the past few weeks, and since the brown-eyed boy had become engrossed in his latest assignment, that meant being in the treasury.

Not that Ryuuoh objected. The weapons were everything he’d ever dreamed of and more, and he had solemnly sworn that he’d someday own a sword like one of the ones in here. Especially like the one in the alcove across the way, a big, wide double-bladed sword that Syaoran had said was very old and had played an important part in a great battle a long time ago. Now that was a good sword, one that he’d have to work hard to become worthy of wielding.

/And I definitely will!/ he thought, clambering carefully over a chest and an assortment of scrolls that were in the way of the dagger. 

The dagger turned out to be something of a disappointment - it was more ornamental than functional, which was probably why it had been tossed in the corner and not hung up. The treasury was disorganized, but most of the important things weren’t just jumbled around. With a sigh, Ryuuoh deposited the dagger back on the pile and was about to stand up and climb back out of the corner when something metallic fell out of the pile and dropped to the floor with gentle pinging sound. Curious, the page leaned down and picked it up.

It was a pin, the kind of thing you might wear in the fold of cloak or maybe on a hat. About a finger-length, it was made of gold and decorated with a delicate lion’s head at the closing end. Wondering what it was for, Ryuuoh took it with him, and went to poke Syaoran, who was now bent even closer to the shield and was squinting in a way that probably wasn’t good for his eyes. 

“Syaoran,” Ryuuoh said, standing next to him. 

“Mm-hmm,” Syaoran answered.

When no further response was forthcoming, Ryuuoh went on, “Would you have a look at this?” 

“Mm-hmm,” was the only reply.

Ryuuoh sighed and rolled his eyes, grinning fondly before clapping him on the shoulder. “Oi, Syaoran!”

“Ah!” Syaoran started and fell back from his crouch, blinking up at Ryuuoh in confusion. “Oh, Ryuuoh. Sorry about that. What did you need?”

“Look at this!” He held out the pin.

“Oh, sure.” Syaoran reached out and took the pin from him, turning it over carefully in his hands. “Where did you find it?”

“Over in the corner,” Ryuuoh pointed over his shoulder. “There was a dagger that turned out to not be much, but then this fell off the pile. It looked different, so I brought it over.”

“Hmm,” Syaoran said thoughtfully, peering at the lion head. /It seems a little familiar. Like I’ve seen it somewhere…in a book, maybe?/ 

“I don’t know what it is,” he told Ryuuoh, “but I might have seen it in a book. I’ll take it with me tonight and look it up.” He smiled at the other boy. “Thanks! My list of ornaments and jewelry in the catalogue has been pretty short so far, though those are probably some of the more interesting items here.”

“Sure,” Ryuuoh grinned, then heaved a sigh. “It’s probably time for me to be getting back. I’ll see you tomorrow, Syaoran!”

“See you!” Syaoran waved back as the other boy ran off, then tucked the pin into a pocket and got back to work on the shield. 

Later that night, he hunted down the book that he thought contained the reference to the pin and took it back to his room to read before bed. Yawning profusely, he washed up and pulled on a nightshirt before climbing into bed and picking up the book. He began leafing through it, scanning the sketches made of the various magical items it talked about until at last he came upon that of the pin. 

/Oh good, I did remember the right book,/ he thought, yawning again, /so let’s see what it says. ‘The pin is a piece of work from the famous mage-metal smith, Gentok. Although its precise date of creation is still unknown, it was probably made during his middle period when he served at the court of….’/

He fell asleep with the book still open on his lap, and did not wake until morning.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane took a deep breath of fresh, cool morning air and prepared to mount his horse. He was getting ready to set off on his yearly tour of the cities near the capital to hold audience and make sure that his local magistrates were doing their jobs right. Much as he hated to be gone just now, to cancel the tour would cause more rumors and trouble than it would solve, not to mention being bad rulership. He made a similar, longer tour around the whole kingdom every fall. 

“The guard is ready, your Majesty,” Souma told him, walking her horse over to him and gesturing at her group of hand-picked guards.

Kurogane held off a sigh and nodded. In truth, he’d be perfectly fine on his own with just a couple of other men in case something strange happened, but Souma was both highly conscious of her duties and slightly paranoid, so he let her have her way.

He was about to mount up when someone calling for him made him pause. He turned in time to see Syaoran come bursting out of the castle, still wearing his pajamas and brandishing a book in one hand and something that glinted gold in the other.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” He skidded to a stop in front of Kurogane, panting. 

“Easy, boy. Catch your breath.” Kurogane steadied him, then crossed his arms and waited patiently. “Now, what is it?”

“Good morning your Majesty. I apologize for my haste. I think I’ve found a way to solve the curse!”

“What?!” Kurogane grabbed the boy’s shoulders, staring at him with wide eyes.

“This pin, your Majesty. Ryuuoh found it in the treasury and I brought it out to look it up, and it’s in this book and it says that if you wear it then it makes you invisible! So I tried it and it works and I thought that if I wore it, then maybe the princesses wouldn’t be able to-” He cut off abruptly, flushing red and looking down. “I mean, someone could wear it, and watch them….”

“Good,” Kurogane said. “I like that idea. You can sneak into their bedroom before Duke Touya locks the door.”

“A-Are you sure, your Majesty? Someone else could-” Syaoran tried to protest, eyes widening at the mention of “bedroom,” but Kurogane shook his head, cutting him off.

“You found it and figured out what it is,” the king said, giving him an intent look, “and you’re interested in the reward.” He had assigned the boy to give the princesses some specialized tutoring, and was not at all unaware of the feelings the Archivist had developed for his youngest daughter.

Syaoran flushed an even deeper shade of red and looked away again. “Your Majesty, I would never presume- Her Highness doesn’t-” He stopped himself, took a deep breath, and then met Kurogane’s crimson eyes resolutely. “I would never force the Princess to do anything against her will, reward or no.” 

“I know,” Kurogane said firmly, releasing him and stepping back. He gave Syaoran one more intent look, leaving the “That’s why I trust you” unspoken. Syaoran straightened and gave a sharp bow before rising, his eyes bright with hope and excitement.

“I will do everything I can, your Majesty.”

“Good,” Kurogane replied, grinning and mounting his horse. The desire to stay and be on hand to see if his daughters would be freed was strong, but he pushed it aside. This trip could not be delayed. “Let’s be off, Captain!”

“Yes, your Majesty. Guard!” Souma bowed before jumping to her own saddle. The rest of the guard followed suit.

“I’m leaving this in your care, boy,” Kurogane said, looking down at Syaoran one last time. “I’ll be back in a few days.” 

“Yes, your Majesty!” Syaoran saluted once more, then dashed off towards the castle. He was intercepted by Page Ryuuoh on the way and after a brief, excited discussion they disappeared inside together. 

Wheeling his horse around, Kurogane set off through the main castle gate without looking back. It would work or it would not, and he had to admit that there were few that he would trust with his daughters’ safety more than that boy. 

He also had to admit that his heart was lighter than it had been for over two years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Archivist makes use of his previous discovery, and the Princesses' secret is revealed.

Syaoran paced his room nervously, checking the pin stuck through the lapel of his coat yet again, and then dashing over to the mirror to make sure that he really was still invisible.

It was almost time for the princesses to retire, and the Archivist was growing nervous. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and remembered back to earlier in the afternoon, when he had given the princesses their daily lesson. At the end of it, Princess Sakura had actually smiled at him and thanked him for the lesson, though she had flushed and hurried away when several of her sisters giggled at her for it, and he had not had a chance to do more than bow in reply.

Still, the memory was bolstering to him, and he left his room with a quiet, confident stride.

It was not difficult to lurk, silent and unseen, in the hallway that led to the princesses’ bedchamber and then slip quickly in after the youngest before their cousin, Duke Touya, bade them all good-night and drew the doors closed, locking them from the outside in the King’s place.

Syaoran, his heart beating so fast he was sure that the sisters would be able to hear it, dove under the nearest bed and settled down to wait. He hadn’t gotten too long a look at the room, but what he had seen was impressive. It was a long, high hall, with six satin and silk canopied beds along each wall, alternating with tall windows. At the far end of the room was a huge fireplace in which a banked fire smoldered, providing just enough light to see by. The carpet underfoot was rich, deep, and very soft.

There was a brief period of rustling and low talk as the princesses readied themselves for bed, and then silence broken only by low breathing and the occasional crackle from the fireplace. Syaoran found himself yawning in the warm darkness beneath the bed, and fought sleep. Distantly, he heard the soft chimes of the clock above the fireplace counting out the hours, ten…eleven…twelve….

He must have dozed off after all, because he was pulled back to full awareness with a jerk by the sound of whispers, giggling, boxes being opened and the rustle of cloth. He held very still, listening hard, and so did not miss when the eldest, Princess Tomoyo, asked softly, “Are we all ready?”

“Yes,” whispered the others eagerly, “yes!”

At that, Syaoran risked a quick peek and, seeing that their attention was occupied, snuck out carefully from under the bed, still crouching low.

Then he watched in amazement as Tomoyo went to her bed and tapped it three times, upon which signal it sank down into the floor and vanished, leaving in its place the opening to a stairway.

“Let us go,” the eldest princess said, took up her skirts in one hand, and began to descend the staircase. The others followed her, and Syaoran rushed forward so as to not be left behind. /This is it!/ he thought excitedly, /I’m actually going to solve the mystery!/

But in his haste and excitement, he had gotten a little too close, and stepped on the hem of Sakura’s gown just as she was about to begin her descent.

“Oh!” she cried, turning back with wide green eyes and staring right through him, “something’s behind me!”

“There is no one there,” Tomoyo called up calmly, also turning to look. “Come, dear sister, or we shall be late!”

Sakura nodded and moved on, but continued to glance back nervously from time to time.

Syaoran, cursing himself and apologizing silently to the princess, followed more carefully, being as silent as he could possibly be, and looking around with wide eyes as they descended the long, winding staircase and…left their world behind.

He had no other words for it, and was even more sure when the reached the bottom and passed through a small, vine covered gate onto a path that led into a forest up ahead.

This was a twilight world, a strange place where faint moonlight filtering down from the sky and the last, fading glow of an ever-setting sun lit the horizon dimly. Neither night nor day, it was a world caught forever in between them.

His wonder over that was quickly pushed aside, though, as they approached the first trees.

It was like no forest he had ever seen; the weak moonlight filtered down through branches and clung to leaves that seemed to be made completely of silver. They shone, multiplying the moonlight and making it seem to be a proper night under a full moon. Syaoran knew that his eyes were wide as he stared around, only barely remembering to watch his step lest he step on Sakura’s gown again. For her part, the youngest princess seemed to forget her initial nervousness the farther into this world they traveled.

The next part of the forest made the Archivist’s eyes widen even further, though, for these trees seemed to be made of purest gold. Here, the moonlight was transformed into a translucent golden light that lit up the air and made it seem to be bright daylight. Distantly, he began to catch strains of what he thought might be the music of violins. The sisters began to pick up their pace, and he was forced to hurry to keep up.

They came then into a forest that nearly made him gasp in awe. Plunged back into the twilight darkness of this strange, magical world, Syaoran could only stare around in wonder at a sparkling forest, where diamonds seemed to have fallen from the sky and come to rest in glittering clusters on every leaf. But the music was more distinct now, and the sisters abandoned all patience, beginning to run towards it, longing written strongly over their faces. Despite his desire to stay in the amazing forest and look more closely, Syaoran was forced to hurry and keep up.

At last, they reached the shore of an enormous dark lake. Down in the water waited twelve boats, and in each sat a prince - indeed, the same princes who had come before to try and discover the princesses’ secret, for Syaoran recognized some of their faces.

He was quick to follow Sakura into her boat, huddling down in between her and her escort, hoping that neither would try and reach through him. The pin made him invisible, but not insubstantial. Once they were safely underway, though, he felt it safe to peer carefully up at their destination, of which he had gotten only a brief glimpse before.

In the middle of the lake was an island, which was covered by an enormous, black marble palace. Light streamed out from its tall windows, and music (very clear now) poured from the main doors at the top of a long staircase leading up from the lake.

“Are you feeling well tonight?” Sakura asked her escort abruptly, and Syaoran kept himself from jumping only just in time.

The man nodded, shrugging helplessly. “I am well, yet I must pull with all my strength and still we lag.”

Syaoran looked and saw that they were indeed lagging behind the other boats. /My extra weight,/ he realized quickly, and grimaced for there was nothing he could do about it.

But soon they had reached the island, and the prince was quick to help Sakura out of the boat, both of them nearly dashing up the stairs after the others, seeming more desperate now. The music swelled up louder, the sounds of a full orchestra pouring from the dark, magnificent palace, playing an irresistible dance melody.

Following quickly after Sakura and her escort, Syaoran had to pause and stare again once he got inside.

The large ballroom that met his gaze was hung with dozens of huge, brightly burning chandeliers that lit the room with a golden glow. The light was reflected back off of black walls covered with mirrors and stunning colored inlays. The floor itself was black marble as well, polished so that it might as well have been a mirror. At the back of the room, the orchestra played, and the rest of the space was taken up by the dancers.

And such dancers! All beautifully and richly dressed, they swirled in a glittering, colorful mass across the dance floor, following the irresistible melody with incredible grace.

Creeping carefully along the wall, stopping only in alcoves where he would not be in the way, Syaoran let his gaze follow Sakura as first her escort, and then another man and another whirled her through dance after dance. He was envious of them, but realized that many of them were the very princes who had tried to rescue the sisters before. Obviously they had been brought here, and then…what? Something had happened to them, to keep them here and….

And to fill their hearts and minds with the same ice as that of the princesses, an ice which seemed to leave room only for this love of dancing. Even her smiles back in the palace were nothing compared to the bright, animated face that Sakura showed now, her eyes gleaming with a full smile. Syaoran felt himself despairing even as he stood in the center of the princesses’ secret, for though he had discovered what their curse was, he did not know how to break it.

He continued to watch, silent and unseen, even swaying along in time with music himself, as they danced and danced. Then, when he estimated that it must be getting close to dawn in his own world, there was finally an end to the music, and the dancers moved instead to long tables that appeared, laden with a magnificent banquet. Watching the sisters closely, Syaoran could see that their dancing slippers - taken new out of boxes only hours ago, were worn right through.

As the occupants of room began to eat and drink, talking quietly amongst themselves, the orchestra took up a softer tune this time, one that did not beguile a dance. Syaoran glanced up at them…and then up _behind_ them, to another balcony that he had somehow missed before. On that balcony was a dais, and on the dais was a grand, black marble throne, as flawless and polished as the rest of the castle.

And on the throne sat a man.

He was dressed all in white: from his low boots, to his tunic and trousers, to the great, fur-lined cape that rested about his shoulders. He had pale skin and golden hair, emphasized all the more by the contrast to the palace around him and the light from the chandeliers. He sat very still, so still that for a moment Syaoran was not even certain that he was real; he might have been a white marble statue. But then he did shift, and briefly his eyes seemed to turn towards where Syaoran stood, invisible-

Syaoran did not think that he had ever seen such terrible _longing_ as he did in those sapphire-bright eyes. Longing, as they wandered back and forth over the tables of people, for speech, touch, _connection_ …but it was only a moment, and then whatever veil was drawn in front of this world’s “King” descended again, leaving the balcony as invisible as it had been upon his arrival.

Syaoran blinked, confused, and was about to start out across the floor to look more closely when Princess Tomoyo rose from her seat at the table and began to collect her sisters. Good-byes were exchanged, with promises to meet again the next night, and then the princesses made their way out the door with their escorts. They were not, Syaoran noted, the only ones who seemed to travel here, for a small number of others were making ready to leave as well. Most, however, including the missing princes, seemed to remain here always.

/It can’t be that the building or the world itself holds them,/ Syaoran thought as he once again hunkered down in Sakura’s boat. /Otherwise none of them would ever leave. It must be something else that initiates the curse. Something that compels them all to come and dance; those who can stay do, and those who cannot stay come back night after night. But what could it be?/

He thought long and hard for the whole ride back across the lake, but nothing came to him. At the other side, the princesses bid their escorts good-night, and began to make their way somewhat wearily back along the trail. /Really, I would need to see someone being initiated to know for certain./

Enchanted all over again by the wonder of that diamond forest, Syaoran’s thoughts were interrupted, and he paused briefly as they were leaving it, thinking to bring back a little proof of everything he had seen. Reaching up, he carefully broke off a small branch, with a tiny cluster of the sparkling leaves on it.

To his horror, though, there came a great CRACK! like breaking glass.

“What was that?” Sakura cried out, whirling around with wide eyes.

“It is just the wind through the trees, dear sister,” the eldest princess said gently, hiding a yawn behind her fan. “Come, we must get back.”

The youngest princess looked around once more, then reluctantly turned and followed the others. Syaoran, who had frozen at the noise, let out a silent breath of relief and followed.

Back through the forest of gold they went, and despite his misgivings, Syaoran once again reached out to one of the trees, as gentle as he could be. But still, there was a violent SNAP! that had the youngest princess whirling around once more.

“Stop! Something is wrong!” she called, and Syaoran felt pained for the anxiety writ clearly on her face.

“It is merely distant lightning,” Princess Tomoyo reassured her once again, and Sakura, even more reluctantly, had to follow.

In the silver forest, Syaoran set his jaw and tore off a small silver branch as quickly as he could, and instantly the woods were filled with a great rumbling of thunder, making the branches shiver.

“Sisters, please!” Sakura cried out, stopping and stamping a slippered foot against the path. “Something is not right! Something strange has been hovering around us all night. I’ve felt it!”

“You are being quite silly,” spoke up the second eldest, Princess Arashi, “and you are making the rest of us nervous over nothing as well. It is but the approach of a storm. Now come! We must be home before sunrise.”

Taking a chance while she was speaking, Syaoran darted ahead of the princesses, dashing up the staircase and into their still empty bedroom. Behind him, he heard them ascending the stair, and looked around quickly for a way out. Dim grey light of early morning filtered through the windows, catching his eye, and the Archivist hurried over to one, opening it and slipping out before pulling it carefully closed behind him. Long flowering vines climbed the palace walls here, and it was but the work of moments for him to swing off the balcony on one of them and descend to the ground.

He did not remove the golden pin until he was once again safely shut in his own room. Even then, he did not go to bed, tired as he was. For on the table before him lay three, shining branches of trees that should not exist, and although he had been to the heart of the princesses’ curse, he was no closer to solving it than anyone else.

At last, Syaoran rose from his chair. He knew with only a glance at his bed that he would find no rest, and that it would look least suspicious if he went about his daily routine anyway. But it was with a whirling mind and a heavy heart that he exchanged his old clothes for clean ones and prepared to start his day.

^~^~^~^~^~^

All that morning, as he went about his work in the treasury, Syaoran pondered the question of what to do with his newfound knowledge. Had the King been there, he would probably have gone straight to him, and perhaps the King would have known better what to do.

But the King was not here, nor was he going to be for some days, at the very least, which left Syaoran pretty much on his own. He didn’t want to go to Duke Touya, for example, with anything less than a full solution - something he definitely did not have.

/At the moment, the best thing I can do would be to follow the princesses again tonight,/ he decided. /Perhaps there is something that I missed. But…/ he bit his lip and tried to focus on his list and the pile of foreign coins in front of him. /I don’t wish to worry Princess Sakura any more than I did last night. But I can’t _say_ anything to her either…./

It was nearly time for the princesses’ afternoon lesson before a solution occurred to him. Dashing back to his room to gather his books, he also snatched up the silver branch and tucked it carefully away, then rushed to the room where he taught to make sure he was there well ahead of the sisters.

While this was not like school, the King had said that the princesses should be writing something for their tutor to look over. Syaoran had asked that they do that, but had let them each choose whether or not they wanted him to actually look over those notes and then hand them back. Sakura had been one of the princesses who requested correction.

So before they all arrived, Syaoran carefully tucked the small silver branch into the folds of Princess Sakura’s notebook, so that she would find it when checking later. /Hopefully then she will at least know that it is a friend who follows, and no enemy. If she even sees me as a friend./

Syaoran thought it was probably good that the princesses arrived then, for it forced him to stop worrying.

He paused in the great banquet hall later that evening, just as he was about to leave, when he saw Sakura coming towards him, her expression carefully schooled but with shock and worry showing in her beautiful green eyes. She had nearly reached him when her sisters appeared, a few giving the two of them pointed looks and whispered giggles, and Sakura blushed, turning away again. Syaoran, not wishing to press the issue himself, let it go.

He followed them again that night.

This time it was Sakura’s escort who complained that their boat lagged behind the others. The princess merely shook her head calmly, though, and assured him that it was only the heat, and not to worry about it. Syaoran, hunkered down in the middle of the boat again, couldn’t help a sad little smile; she was very smart. He hoped it wasn’t going to cost him his chance to save her and her sisters, but he was glad that he’d been able to assuage at least some of her fear.

Tonight, not being quite so overwhelmed by the grandness of it all, he was able to watch more carefully. He caught two more glimpses of the white ‘king’ on the black throne, and couldn’t help but wonder who he was, why he wasn’t among the dancers, and what he had to do with all of this. He might have been a statue, really, for all that he seemed to do anything other than observe. The only part of him that seemed to have color or sign of life were his eyes, that depthless sapphire filled with so much painful longing. But the glimpses were brief, and since Syaoran didn’t know what to make of him, he decided to focus his attention on more immediate things.

It did not escape his notice that Princess Sakura, though still given over to the dancing, laughing and spinning animatedly, also spent a great deal of the evening looking for something…someone. As tempting as it was, as much as he had to admit that he wanted to be the one out there dancing with her, Syaoran kept the pin firmly in its place and stayed in the alcoves, well out of the way. But he learned nothing more.

When he stumbled briefly on the walk back up through the forest, it was Princess Tomoyo who paused at the sound, a slight frown creasing her delicate face, and her youngest sister who assured her that the noise was nothing.

Again, he darted ahead and out through the window before he could be seen.

That afternoon, he left the branch from the golden forest in her notebook, and was only mildly surprised when she hurried back into the room alone before he had had a chance to pack up and leave.

“Where do the gold and silver branches come from?” She asked, her face determined.

Syaoran bowed his head to her, and answered only, “Princess Sakura knows.”

“You have followed us!” she gave him a look of mingled anger, despair and betrayal that struck him to the bone and made his breath catch painfully. “And now you know our secret. I suppose that you will not keep it?”

Unable to meet that look in her eyes, grieving to know that he had hurt her so much, he could only bow again and say, in a quiet, pained murmur, “I am but your humble servant, your Highness.” He could think of nothing else to say, and quickly gathered up his books and left the room.

He did not follow them that night. Instead, he lay awake in his bed and stared at the ceiling, despair curling heavily around his heart and through his stomach.

/What can I do? Perhaps fully freeing them from the curse would make things right, but I cannot do that! I don’t know how to fix it, and to do anything less than that will only cause her more pain. I don’t think I could stand to have her look at me that way again…./ But there was also the promise he had made to the King. The King _trusted_ him to do everything he could to make things right.

/But I can’t,/ he thought, jaw clenching against the ache in his chest that wanted to be tears. /I don’t know how. I have the key to their chain in my hands, but I can’t find the lock. And tugging on those chains will only hurt them./

He forced himself to roll over then, squeezing his eyes shut. If a few small drops escaped them, he ignored those in favor of forcing all thoughts from his head. It was a long time before he fell asleep.

^~^~^~^~^~^

He agonized over it for the next two days, still not following the princesses at night.

On the third morning, though, he was in the throne room, where Duke Touya was holding an impromptu audience from a chair in one corner (which had Chamberlain Yukito fussing at him about the impropriety, which the Duke steadily ignored). Over the noise of the gathered crowd, he almost missed that the princesses (for they almost never went anywhere except in their full group anymore) slipped into the room from the outdoor balcony.

The contrast of their pale, wan coloring in comparison to that of even the other court ladies here struck Syaoran hard.

/I haven’t seen them around others much, because they keep to themselves and I’m in the treasury so much,/ he realized. /But now I can see…./

And what he saw was beginning to make his decision for him.

/They will be lost. That world _will_ claim them, just as the prophecy said, and then there will be no saving them. I haven’t got any choice! I must act, and soon, or it will be too late./

He left the throne room and returned to his own. There were things to be done, for he knew now what he had to do.

^~^~^~^~^~^

That same afternoon, he slipped the diamond branch into Sakura’s notebook. Once again, she returned immediately after the lesson, looking both determined and more confused.

“You know what the King has promised in payment for our secret, don’t you?” she asked, watching him carefully.

“Yes, Princess, I do,” he replied, meeting her gaze openly.

“Are you going to tell him?”

Syaoran did not hesitate. “No, Princess.” I will free you myself, he didn’t say. Whether there is a reward or not.

“Are you frightened?” she asked, further confused.

“I am not afraid, your Royal Highness,” he said, standing up a little straighter.

“Then why not?” she asked, frustration and a hint of anger flashing in her eyes.

Syaoran, not knowing how to answer that, merely bowed. When she said nothing else, he collected his things and quietly left the room.

He went back to his room and let out a heavy sigh, still unhappy about making Sakura upset, but knowing that there was no choice. /And if all goes well, I will learn what I need to know./

He sat down at his desk, pulled a sheet of clean paper towards him, and began to write.

^~^~^~^~^~^

The next day, everything went as Syaoran had expected it would. Confronted with his strange, unbending behavior, Sakura had finally broken down and told her sisters. He was not surprised when, at the end of their lesson that afternoon, Princess Tomoyo approached him.

“Archivist Syaoran,” she said, her voice cool, though polite as always. “My dear sister informs me that you have discovered our secret. In light of this, and in light of the fact that you have not revealed it, we would like to offer you a proper invitation to the dance tonight.”

Syaoran paused briefly, glancing across the room to where Sakura stood. There seemed to be a hint of sadness in her face, but she held his gaze steadily. Nodding imperceptibly to himself, he bowed deeply to Princess Tomoyo. “I would be honored to attend, your Royal Highness. But I do not think that his Grace would allow-”

“His Majesty our father has given orders that anyone may be allowed to wait in the adjoining chamber. We shall send clothes for you.” With that, she turned and swept away, her sisters hurrying to catch up.

And indeed, when he returned to his room later, there was a brand new suit, perfectly tailored, laid out across his bed. He put it on carefully; white silk shirt, golden brocade vest, dark green velvet trousers and coat. White stockings, cravat, and black dancing shoes completed the ensemble. He pulled his (fairly short) brown hair back into a proper tail as best he could, and then looked himself over in the mirror.

/Well, I don’t know if it quite suits me or not,/ he thought, /but at least I look the part./

He took a deep breath to steady himself. The knowledge that he might very well never return from this dance was sobering, but he had decided that the risk must be taken. He couldn’t think of any other way to discover how the curse was put on people in the first place, except to put himself in that position.

Foolhardy, he knew, but perhaps the only solution. He had written down everything else he knew in a long letter, addressed to the King and left on his desk, in the event that he did not come back, so at least the King would know where to begin.

Syaoran glanced out the window; it was afternoon still, and not yet time for evening court. Too early to present himself to Duke Touya, so he pulled out his notes to look over one last time, searching desperately for any clue that he might have missed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Magician remains enigmatic, the Duke is displeased, the Princesses are freed, the King is relieved, and there seems to be a Happy Ending.

Kurogane paced back and forth through the deserted shepherd’s field he had found, having finally escaped his guards. They would find him again eventually, of course, but he had wanted time and space to himself, and he was tired of being shut inside. He was nearing the end of this tour, thankfully, but there were still a few villages to visit before he could return home.

Before he would know if his daughters were safe.

Cursing under his breath for the worry that had been distracting him for all these long days, he glanced around the field and peered into the woods he paced near, making sure he was truly alone. Then, he whistled low under his breath.

“Magician,” he called, “I want to talk with you.”

For long moments, there was no sign that the sorcerer would answer his call, only the wind laughing through the trees around him, cooling as the day lengthened.

Then, just as Kurogane had been about to give up and go back, blue-white light bloomed near the tree-line and the sorcerer stood there, calm as ever, and still clutching his staff.

“Your Wandering Splendidness, how might I serve you?” He bowed the same overstated bow as always, rising with the tiniest hint of a smirk.

“How many times must I tell you to stop speaking nonsense?” Kurogane growled, mostly to himself. It wasn’t as though the other man listened, after all. “Has the prophecy changed?” Surely it would have, now that the boy had something more substantial to try….

“It has…not,” the sorcerer said, calmly, but his gaze was distracted, and Kurogane did not miss the slight hesitation. He turned to face the man directly, narrowing his eyes into a piercing glare.

“You’re certain, magician?”

“It has not changed,” the blue-eyed man repeated, matching Kurogane’s gaze and smirking, back to his usual, assured self. “Your Voyaging Radiance expects much.”

Kurogane almost wanted to stare at the idiot sorcerer actually _volunteering_ information for once, but it was quickly buried under growing annoyance. “Well perhaps if you’d make yourself useful for once, magician,” he bit out, “then this whole thing might have been solved long ago. If it weren’t for you, the whole thing never would have started in the first place!”

Caught up in his rising temper, he missed a tell-tale twitch and momentary flash of something like alarm in the blue eyes. He continued on, fists clenched and glaring. “You’re the one who made the stupid prophecy in the first place.”

“I merely tell what I see of the future,” the sorcerer said, leaning casually on his staff and letting his head tilt to one side. “It is hardly my fault that Your Most Obdurate Nobility will not accept what cannot be changed.” There was a calculating look in those blue eyes that Kurogane was not quite calm enough to pay attention to, as the sorcerer continued speaking, voice casually cruel, “Indeed, the wisest course would be accepting the fate that has been cast for your pretty daughters, instead of pig-headedly fighting it, running into an impassable wall over and over….”

Kurogane was seeing red. _Accept_ that he would lose his beloved daughters if the curse was not broken? Sit back and do _nothing_?

“I should strangle you for that,” he managed to choke out, fists clenched so hard he thought he might have bloodied his palms.

The sorcerer’s eyes were much too intense.

“By all means,” he whispered, meeting the King’s blazing red eyes with something like eagerness. “By all means…”

Kurogane was moving before he realized it, crossing the field to the trees in a heartbeat, reaching out to grab that skinny pale neck and wring it until the magician could no longer breath, much less speak. Almost there…

But as he fingers were about to reach their goal, a mere hairsbreadth above pale skin, they brushed up against something, cold as ice, that let out a great burst of light and a sound like a thunderclap, knocking the King back several paces and making his head ring.

“You _bastard_ ,” he choked out, staggering to his feet and clutching his head, barely managing a glare up at the other man. “You _knew_ I wouldn’t be able to touch you!”

The sorcerer was standing where he had been, his eyes wide, paler than before (if that were possible), and clutching his staff in a white-knuckled grip. As Kurogane looked, he gave a very strained smirk, and said “Perhaps,” in a soft voice. Then he bowed, and was gone.

Kurogane stood there for a long time after the blue-white light had faded, and even after his anger had gone, leaving him staring in confusion at the empty spot where the sorcerer had stood.

Confusion because, in the brief moments right before and after the explosion, there had been _emotion_ in those brilliant blue eyes, and it had definitely not been the emotion of someone about to play a joke.

It had been despair.

Kurogane stood, and frowned, and thought, and listened to the wind whispering through the trees, and wondered why it sounded like someone crying.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Duke Touya was, as Syaoran had suspected, not particularly pleased with the idea of letting the _Archivist_ try to solve the princesses’ curse. Still, he had given very reluctant permission (with some prodding from Chamberlain Yukito, who reminded him of the King’s orders) and when none of the princesses protested, he found himself out of reasons to keep Syaoran away.

The Archivist almost felt sorry for tricking him, and wondered if he shouldn’t have said something to him, but decided that at this point he would tell his story to the King or no one at all, depending on whether or not he came back. He bowed deeply to the Duke and the princesses, and then allowed himself to be shut into the adjoining chamber.

It was, he had to admit, rather more comfortable than hiding under one of the beds.

Shortly after the clock struck twelve, the door leading into the bedchamber was drawn open, and Princess Tomoyo stood there. “We are prepared. Come.”

Bowing and offering her the arm she seemed to be expecting, Syaoran shared the long walk down the stairs and through the lovely forests with her, and he was the one to row her boat across the lake that night.

Once in the palace, the music swelled up around them, just the same as before, and Princess Tomoyo led him out for the first dance. Princess Arashi swooped him up next, and so on down through each of the twelve sisters, until at last it was his turn to dance with Princess Sakura. She wore a sparkling, midnight-blue gown, and he was almost glad of their mutual shyness, otherwise he knew he would have been staring a lot. As it was, they danced carefully, and avoided one another’s eyes.

As that song faded away, Syaoran leaned down to whisper briefly in her ear, “You needn’t have worried, Princess. I would never have forced you to marry a commoner.” She blinked at him, startled, and was about to say something when Princess Tomoyo came to lead him off for another dance.

At last, the princesses’ slippers were all worn through, and the music died away, signaling the beginning of the feast.

He was the talk of the banquet, praised by all there for his good dancing and wonderful manners. He ate what he could, wishing that the hunger he had felt earlier would return, but it was no good; his appetite was quite gone. A few glances told him that the ‘king’ of this twilight palace was still there on his throne, still watching. And now that he was amongst them, he noticed that the table’s inhabitants often glanced that way, as if confirming that the man was still there, though they never seemed to speak of him.

At last, as the banquet was nearing its end, Princess Tomoyo signaled someone, and was presented with a lovely crystal and gold goblet, which was full of some deep, ruby-red liquid. Solemnly, she handed it to him.

“The Twilight Kingdom holds no secrets from you now,” she said as he took the goblet carefully, feeling strangely aware of the ‘king’s’ eyes on him, “so let us drink this toast, to welcome you to our group.”

For one moment, Syaoran met Sakura’s eyes directly, then raised the goblet to his lips. /If this is what she wishes, then so be it…./

“Stop!” she cried out, reaching forward to wrench the cup from his hand, “Don’t drink! It will make you like all the rest!”

There was a long, breathless moment then as the goblet fell…and as it struck the floor, shattering into a million tiny shards, there came a great rumbling, as if the foundation of the palace itself was shaken, and a huge gust of wind swept through the room. All of the people sat frozen for another instant, then shivered and blinked, looking around as though they had just woken from a long trance.

“The spell…” began Princess Arashi, hesitantly.

“It is broken,” Princess Tomoyo acknowledged, turning to her youngest sister with a tearful smile and an embrace. “An act of love, I think.”

“That is an often heard-of cure for curses,” Syaoran said, mind already racing back through various stories he’d read, but then he realized what the eldest princess was implying and blushed scarlet, smiling shyly at Sakura, who was also very red but also smiling. She seemed to hesitate briefly, but then darted forward and threw herself into his arms, happy tears in her eyes.

“Oh, Syaoran! We’re free!”

As if those were further magic words, the rest of the group rose, and took up the call of “We’re free! We’re free!” They embraced each other happily, laughing and crying.

But another great rumble shook the palace, and cracks began to appear in the walls and ceiling.

“Hurry!” Syaoran called, still blushing furiously but not protesting Sakura’s continued embrace. “The boats!”

As everyone began to rush for the door, Syaoran thought to turn and look back once more at that high alcove.

The ‘king’ still sat on his throne, looking much the same as he always had, but his blue eyes were now wide with horror and fear…then the veil dropped back over him, and the palace shuddered once more, and Syaoran realized that there was no more time. Still guiding Sakura, he hurried to follow the others down to the lake.

Tonight, the boats were full as they crossed back over the dark lake under the strange, twilight sky, for no one was left behind. A violent storm was brewing even as they passed through the beautiful forests, and by the time they reached the staircase that led up to the princesses’ bedchamber, the sound of crumbling stone could be heard in the distance.

Sakura held Syaoran’s hand a little tighter. “We shall never be able to enter the twilight kingdom again.”

“Does that make you sad, Princess?” he asked, a touch anxious, but she shook her head calmly and smiled as they came back into the bedchamber and the door closed behind them.

“No. We can dance whenever we like, and,” she stopped, blushing again and forcing herself to meet his eyes, “and I love you more than _anything_.”

Syaoran swallowed hard, then returned her smile, whispering quietly, “I love you too.”

And right there in the middle of the sunlit room with everyone looking on, she threw herself into his arms again and kissed him soundly, much to their eventual embarrassment and the delight of everyone else.

Blushing furiously, they were both glad when a clatter from outside the window distracted the crowd, and someone called, “It’s the King!”

“Come,” Sakura said then, her blush abating slightly even as she took his hand, “let’s go tell Father.”

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane rode through the main gates shortly after daybreak. Eager to get back, he’d decided not to stop for the whole night, taking only a few shorter breaks along the way. His guard, while not exactly pleased, understood his sense of urgency and did not complain.

He looked up at the sound of a commotion by the main doors, and was shocked to see his youngest daughter come dashing out, the Archivist in tow, and followed not only by her sisters, but by all the princes who had gone missing, and a great many others as well.

“Father! Father!” Sakura called, smiling brightly and waving just as she had done before the curse began.

Kurogane did not remember dismounting, and he did not remember crossing the courtyard. He did remember lifting his daughter up and swinging her around, his red eyes wide and bright with joy. Setting her down, he was quick to gather all of his daughters to him, embracing them all as best he could.

“Forgive us Father,” Tomoyo murmured to him, bravely holding off the tears that had gathered in her large violet eyes. “We caused you so much worry….”

Kurogane merely swept her up into a tighter hug. “You’re safe now,” he said gruffly, his own throat tight with emotion. “That’s all that matters. You’re all safe.”

All twelve sisters laughed and cried openly, hugging him back, apologizing and assuring him that they were well. At last, though, the King pulled away to find that a rather large crowd had gathered, and were watching them with equal emotion reflected in their eyes. He looked around, and found the Archivist standing off to one side, hands clasped behind his back, doing his best to look sober and detached and failing.

“You, boy,” Kurogane said, extricating one arm from around Tomoyo long enough to gesture the boy forward. “Come here.”

Syaoran straightened his shoulders and walked forward. “Yes, your Majesty?”

“You freed my daughters from the curse.” He was watching the boy intently, and so too was everyone else in the courtyard. There were a few surprised murmurings; some had not yet heard that part.

The Archivist bowed, then held himself straight again. “Yes, your Majesty.”

“You know the reward I have offered for this,” Kurogane continued.

Syaoran merely matched him stare for stare, and then smiled a bit helplessly. “If I may have permission to ask a question I would not otherwise be able to ask, that would be reward enough, your Majesty.”

Kurogane gave the boy an approving half-grin. “Then, Syaoran, consider my permission granted.”

The boy blinked slightly at the use of his name, but did not hesitate. Stepping forward, he looked at Sakura, who stepped out of the cluster of princesses to stand in front of him. He went down on one knee in front of her and took her hand, and although he was blushing slightly again, his voice was perfectly steady.

“Princess Sakura, will you marry me?”

She was absolutely still for a breathless second, and then she was in his arms again, saying “Yes!” over and over again.

Kurogane nodded approvingly, then turned to Souma and Yukito, who had come up in the meantime and were both smiling happily at the newly engaged pair.

“I want heralds to go out today, to say that the curse has been broken, and that the wedding will be in a week. That should be enough time for even Queen Kendappa and that damned Witch to get here,” Kurogane told them. They both nodded, wincing at his language in regards to the Witch, Yuuko, and Souma perking up slightly at the mention of their neighboring monarch. Kurogane thought that he was going to have to force his Captain of the Guard to retire one of these days, so that maybe she would finally move there. She certainly wasn’t going to ask for it on her own.

/Ah well,/ he thought, /we’ll give that page, Ryuuoh, a few more years and then he’ll probably be ready to take over the Captain position anyway. I’m sure Kendappa would be willing to let him stay on here if Souma would join her./

“Yes, your Majesty!” The Captain and Chamberlain both bowed, still smiling happily, and went off to do their assigned tasks. Yukito would also have to start planning the wedding…but when Kurogane looked around, Tomoyo was already conferring with the silver-haired man, so it looked like he wouldn’t have to worry about that, to his great relief.

“All right then,” he called, loud enough to be heard over the whole crowd, “let’s get inside, and then you can tell me the whole story.”

^~^~^~^~^~^

The following week passed quickly, and before long the wedding day had arrived. The palace was full of people, and though Kurogane had never much cared for huge crowds, he had to admit that it was good to see the place so alive again, for the first time since the curse had begun.

The princesses were everywhere, bright and laughing again, and Kurogane was perfectly content to sit back and simply watch his daughters dance and laugh and sing again, still so relieved that he scarcely had words for it.

The wedding ceremony itself had gone well. Sakura had been beautiful in her white gown (designed by her eldest sister, of course) and Syaoran had looked quite handsome in a new suit. They were both incredibly happy, and had barely left each other’s side all day.

Now, it was getting into evening. The wedding feast was over and it was time for the grand ball to begin. Kurogane was required to dance. He did not mind dancing as such (even after the part it had played in his daughters’ curse), but he liked it less when he was required to do it in front of so many people. But for his youngest daughter’s wedding, he would not protest.

He danced with Sakura first, then handed her off to her new husband for the second time that day. He would certainly admit to some fatherly misgivings about the whole thing, but he also knew that she could not be in better hands; Syaoran was quite obviously just as blissfully happy as she was, and Kurogane knew that they would take good care of each other.

After that, he danced with Queen Kendappa, as was proper, and they had a good talk. Kurogane made his suggestion about letting Ryuuoh stay and take Souma’s place as Captain of the Guard in a few years, and his fellow monarch immediately approved of the idea. It would be one more tie binding their (already-strong) alliance, and would allow Souma to be with her. Satisfied, Kurogane bowed over her hand as that dance finished, and was about to go find his eldest when the Witch who lived on the border between the kingdoms, Yuuko, stepped in and led him into the next dance.

“Good evening, your Majesty,” she said politely, smirking at his disgruntled expression. “Congratulations on both the wedding and on having the curse solved. Your Archivist did quite well, did he not?”

“Hn,” Kurogane grunted in agreement. He had consulted Yuuko early on after the curse began. She had been as unhelpful as the idiot magician in her own way, muttering about destiny and changing fate, though ultimately she had come across as considerably more optimistic than the blue-eyed man ever had. Not that that had been of much help in actually breaking the curse.

“He’s an intelligent boy,” Yuuko went on blithely, not at all put off by the King’s near-rudeness. “I do have to wonder if he missed anything, though.”

“Of course not,” Kurogane said, scowling a little. “The curse is broken. They’re all safe.”

“Yes,” Yuuko agreed, calmly, which calmed him as well. /As long as my daughters aren’t in danger anymore…./

“But you never did find out what caused them to become cursed in the first place, did you? Nor any of those other people,” the Witch went on smoothly, as if contradicting his thought.

“They drank that potion,” Kurogane replied, “and when Sakura wouldn’t let the boy drink it, they were all released.”

“Ah, but where did the drink and the Twilight Kingdom come from?” she pressed, smirking again. “My dear King, this is not quite so simple as it seems. Curses rarely are.”

“My daughters are safe, and happy,” he returned firmly, “that is all that matters to me.”

Yuuko looked as though she were about to say more, but the song ended then and she let him go. Kurogane, for his part, pushed her words aside, shaking his head. Maybe there should be a little more investigation, but it could certainly wait until the excitement and clean-up of the wedding had died down. As he had said, his daughters were his main concern.

He went on to give each of his other daughters a dance before retiring to his throne to watch.

Sakura was now dancing with Duke Nokoru, who was smiling amiably and chatting with her, probably about how things were going on his estates (he was one of the wealthiest nobles in the kingdom, coming from a very old family). His bodyguard, Sir Suoh, danced nearby with his aunt Souma, who had been coaxed from her self-imposed duties by Queen Kendappa a little while before. Their friend, Baron Akira, also danced nearby with Yuzuhira, a girl from an old, lower-class family who had strong magic abilities of their own. She’d been a friend of Sakura’s for several years now, and had also made good friends with one of Kurogane’s generals, Sir Kusanagi, who was the lord of her hometown. Syaoran was giving Queen Kendappa’s young daughter, Chu’nyan, a dance, half-teaching her the steps as they went, for this was her first time attending a large ball and being allowed to dance.

The only other really exciting thing to happen all night was when Prince Sorata, one of the first princes to try and solve the mystery, went down on one knee and proposed to his “Dearest Beloved Princess Arashi” in the middle of the ballroom, to some surprise on her part, and enthusiastic cheering from everyone else. After hitting him gently over the head for being “silly,” she agreed. Kurogane (who had no problems with the prince, even if he was a bit overenthusiastic at times) gave his blessing, and the party picked up again.

The dancing did, in fact, continue all the way on through until sunrise, and the princesses had all worn their latest dancing slippers quite full of holes. Seeing them all safe and happy, Kurogane found that he couldn’t really bring himself to care.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Witch is once again correct, the King is determined, and the Magician is shocked.

It was not until midafternoon three days after the wedding that Kurogane remembered the sorcerer.

Looking around the throne room and seeing that his daughters, various courtiers, and a few of the wedding guests who still lingered were content as they were and paying him no mind, he rose from the throne and quietly slipped off to the balcony running along the back of the palace. It was only right that the idiot should be informed, after all, and if the King was intending to gloat a little at having proven the prophecy wrong, he thought he was within his rights after all the trouble and annoyance the magician had caused.

Standing with his back to the throne room, looking out over the mountains, he whistled low under his breath.

“Magician,” he called (and not without a hint of smugness), “I want to talk with you.”

For long minutes, there was only the wind, skittering through the trees, and Kurogane was beginning to think that the magician was going to avoid him altogether when at last the familiar blue-white light bloomed weakly off to one side of the balcony.

Kurogane turned, smirking, and was about to tell the magician precisely what he could do with his prophecy…

…until he actually got a look at the sorcerer and nearly drew back in shock.

The sorcerer was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, clutching at his staff as though his life depended on it, and was (if Kurogane was seeing correctly) fading.

“Yes, your Majesty?” the blue-eyed man asked, his voice hoarse, and the lack of absurd title shocked the King nearly as much as everything else. There was no teasing in the man’s voice, not even a hint of it.

“Magician?” he asked, staring in a kind of horrified awe at the far railing of the balcony, which he could see quite clearly _through_ the sorcerer’s shoulder. “What’s happening to you?”

The man let out a low breath of bitter laughter and shook his head.

“It’s you!” Kurogane turned to find Syaoran and Sakura standing in the doorway, and the boy was blinking at the sorcerer in surprise. “He was the ‘King’ of the Twilight Kingdom!”

“What?” Kurogane turned back to the magician, the word nearly a growl, now torn between the fact that something was horribly wrong, and the implication that this man had played an active role in his daughters’ curse.

Terror was growing in the magician’s face, and he stepped back shakily, not saying or doing anything. “Your Majesty….”

“What’s going on?” Kurogane asked, voice a low growl, feeling helpless once again and not knowing what to think anymore. “Who are you?”

At that question, the magician flinched as though he’d been struck and immediately blue-white light grew (slowly, had it ever been so slowly before?) around him. He was gone without another word.

“I’m sure of it,” Syaoran said, soft and confused. “I’m sorry - I hadn’t ever seen him anywhere else before.”

“Father, is everything all right?” Sakura wanted to know, anxious. “Who was he?”

“The sorcerer who gave the prophecy,” Kurogane replied distractedly, still staring at the spot where the magician had stood, not even caring at the crowd gathering behind him.

“These things are rarely as simple as they seem, your Majesty,” Yuuko appeared suddenly at his side, repeating her warning from a few days previously. “And this is not an exception.”

“Is this more of your damn fate nonsense?” Kurogane growled at her, deciding that anger was a safer emotion for now. “Because I don’t want to hear it.”

The Witch chuckled, smirking. “Everything is fate, my dear King. The story is not yet done. Personally, I like to hear stories out ‘til the end. Don’t you?”

And with that, she too vanished. The crowd gathered in the doorway to the ballroom began to speculate loudly about what it could all mean, and what their King would do now. Syaoran and Sakura, after one last worried glance, turned to try and herd the court back inside.

Kurogane frowned, more confused than truly angry, lifted his eyes to the darkening mountains, and wondered.

^~^~^~^~^~^

/Damn the idiot magician and damn that damned Witch and damn curses and mysteries and magic!/ Kurogane grumbled to himself.

He was edging along a part of the mountain path bordered on one side by a sheer cliff and by a steep precipice on the other. He supposed that the messenger the Queen had originally sent to get the magician had been right about not wanting to do this a second time. Kurogane was just glad he’d thought to get the directions from the man, just in case.

And “just in case” was now, apparently.

Back at the palace, he’d gotten the court back inside and then, faking more anger than he really felt, set out on an expedition to find the magician to ‘find out what the bastard had to do with the curse,’ as he’d told them. He’d bluntly refused any escort from the Guard, which would slow him down, called for his cloak and sword and set out.

In truth, he wasn’t quite sure why he was going. He did want to know what connection the sorcerer had to do with the curse, but he also wanted to know what was wrong with the man, and why, and whether or not it could be fixed.

So, here he was, climbing up an arduous mountain trail to reach the cave where the man supposedly lived. He supposed that was why the man used magic to get everywhere - _he_ certainly wouldn’t climb this path if he didn’t have to. The fact that it was getting darker by the minute didn’t help.

By the time he reached the end of the trail it was well after sunset, and the cave mouth that the path disappeared into seemed at first to be even darker than it was outside. Grimly determined, the King pressed forward anyway.

Somewhat to his surprise, he found that the darkness actually lightened as soon as he was inside, as if it had been a barrier of some sort to make the place look uninhabited. It would make sense, he supposed.

Inside, however, the large cave was lit with a dim golden glow that came from alcoves set into the walls. More magic, Kurogane assumed when he couldn’t see any actual lanterns or torches in those niches. Looking around in the dim light, he was slightly surprised at how…comfortable the place looked.

The floor was covered with worn carpets of all colors and sizes, and piles of cushions in random corners seemed to make up the bulk of the magician’s furniture. Their arrangement suggested that the man was prone to flopping down wherever the whim took him, and liked to have something to sit on near at hand. Other ledges and crevices in the walls had been cleverly fixed up to hold books, and every spare nook was stuffed with them. Glancing at the spines, the King surmised that they were mostly magical treatises. Further back in the cave was a waterfall and a pool of water, near which was a hearth carved into the rock, upon which embers still glowed. Another outcropping of rock served as a table and chair near the hearth, and here were more shelves stocked as a kitchen would be. Across from the fire was yet another pile of cushions and blankets that looked like a bed. More books filled the niches here as well. The place looked comfortable, and well-lived in, as only those homes occupied for a long time can look.

There was, however, a distinct lack of the sorcerer himself.

/Where the hell is he?/ Kurogane growled mentally. /It’s not as though there’s anywhere to hide in here…his staff’s even propped against the wall here…./

It was then that he noticed the small stream flowing out of the pool, clear and cold, that seemed to go further back into the cave. And, upon closer inspection, Kurogane realized that the cave actually did extend further than he’d thought at first. It was dark, the mage-light not seeming to touch that far.

Grimacing, Kurogane adjusted his sword so it would be easier to reach and cautiously began to follow the stream back into the darkness.

He did not, as far as he could tell, actually pass through any kind of barrier or divide, but he knew that he must have at some point, because he turned back once and could see not even a slightest hint of the light that had filled the sorcerer’s home. The noise of the stream beside him remained constant, but he still had the impression that he was not where he had been before.

This was further reinforced when a new light, twilight, began to grow around him and he found himself at the top of a long, winding staircase. This was beginning to look much like what the boy and his daughters had described as their entrance into the Twilight Kingdom, though obviously it couldn’t be the same one.

All the more determined, the King began to cautiously descend the staircase.

It went down, and the dim moonlight/sunset light did little to let him see what might be more than a few feet below him. A twilight world indeed. He wondered if the forests Syaoran had so vividly described would be here as well….

They weren’t. This staircase ended right at the edge of the blackest lake Kurogane had ever seen, fading almost imperceptibly into a long, ornate, almost delicate-looking bridge carved of some polished black stone. At its far end, he though he could see the island, dark and jagged against the twilight sky.

Still cautious, he put a hand to his sword hilt and started across.

What he saw when he reached the other side made him halt briefly, staring in astonishment.

The great black marble palace where his daughters had danced their slippers full of holes now lay in ruin. Parts of the walls still stood here and there, like rough black teeth. The rest had crumbled, and now lay mixed across a once-polished floor with shattered glass and pieces of jeweled inlay, dully glinting in the half-light.

In the middle of the destruction, as flawless and untouched as the bridge, stood a great black marble throne, its back to the King where he stood at the island’s shore.

He hesitated for a moment, then deliberately walked forward, giving the throne a wide berth and circling until his stood in front of it, booted feet crunching against the glass and rock coating the floor.

When he was facing the throne, he looked up to find the sorcerer, clad all in purest white, staring at him with wide, shocked, disbelieving eyes.

They stared at each other in silence for a long time, before the sorcerer finally blinked and, after a couple of false starts, seemed to find his voice. “Y-Your Majesty? What…?”

Kurogane stared at him intently for another minute, then sighed and shook his head, pacing carefully closer. “Idiot. If you’re going to run away every time I need answers, then what the hell else am I supposed to do?”

The man stared at him wide-eyed again, then collapsed back into the throne with a hoarse, bitter chuckle. “I guess…I can’t get away from you, can I?”

He was still partially transparent, Kurogane realized, eyeing him carefully. Stopping a shorter distance away, he crossed his arms over his chest and stayed quiet. Now he really did need to figure out what he was doing here.

“Why are you fading?” he asked at last, deciding to start with the obvious.

Another laugh, one that the magician choked off quickly because it had a sharp, nearly hysterical edge to it. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then said quietly, “Because I’m cursed,” in what was probably supposed to be a conversational tone.

But the mask behind those blue eyes had been shattered, as surely as this palace had been shattered, and Kurogane was no longer fooled. “Why?”

“I do not know,” the man whispered, lips twisting bitterly into something that was not a smile. “I do not know who did it, I do not know why. I remember nothing.”

Kurogane found that he believed this; the magician sounded far too bitter for it not to be true. So he switched to another pressing question. “Are you the one who put the dancing curse on the princesses? On those other people?”

“Yes,” came the whisper, even as one pale, long-fingered hand rose to cover too-blue eyes. “Yes.”

“Why?” Kurogane was still staring at him intently.

“Because I had to,” came the tired-sounding reply, muffled by the man’s hand, “and before you ask, no, I don’t know why. It was a compulsion. I needed people here.”

Kurogane frowned, and at last released the magician from his gaze, crouching down and thinking. “Is that why you’re fading?”

Lowering his hand, the sorcerer blinked at him, startled again, then sitting back, he let his pale-gold hair fall across his face to try and hide sudden despair. “Yes.”

“So…you need people to…see you? The princesses said they could always see you, but that you never actually interacted with anyone.”

“Yes,” there was a sigh from behind the fall of blond hair. “And now there are none to see me, and so I will fade, until none will ever be able to see me, no matter what I do.”

“But you won’t die?” Kurogane stared at him again, beginning to realize why the prospect horrified the man so much.

“No. No, I won’t die.” This whisper was horrified, quiet to try and hide that fact.

A new thought occurred to Kurogane. “How long have you been cursed?”

Another breath of laughter (if it could be called that), and then a glimpse of haunted blue eyes peering at him from between pale fingers.

“I have been compelled to sit upon this throne, each night from sunset until sunrise, for two hundred and fifty seven years, eight months and seventeen days.”

Kurogane stared again, and could find no response to that. It would explain why the cave looked so well-lived in, if the magician had been here for over two hundred years. With a frustrated sigh he ran a hand through his short black hair and trying to think.

“So…you don’t remember who you are or why all this happened, and you need people to at least see you, or you’ll fade away,” the King summed up at last.

“Yes,” whispered the sorcerer, face still hidden behind his hand and sounding tired more than anything.

“If one person was here to talk with you every night, would that be enough? At least to stop you from fading any further?”

The pale hand dropped, and the magician blinked at him, confused. “In theory, yes, I suppose it would help. But who…”

Kurogane glared at him, saying ‘Don’t be an idiot’ silently and daring him to comment. “The boy might be able to find something that can help, but he’ll need time. If I’m here, that’ll probably do. Can’t hurt, at least.”

The magician was still staring with wide sapphire eyes. “You would…do that…for _me_? You don’t like me….”

“No,” Kurogane growled, “but this curse got the princesses and a bunch of other people mixed up in it too. I want it gone for good.” He stopped, looking away awkwardly and running a hand through his hair again. “Decent chance you’re one of my subjects anyway. It’s my job to see that everyone in the kingdom’s as safe as possible.”

Another moment of silence in which the King did his best to fight off a growing sense of embarrassment, and then the sorcerer chuckled, low and disbelieving.

“Hyuu~” he whispered in parody of a whistle, “Your Estimable Sublimity really is a great King….”

“Would you stop with the ridiculous titles?” the King in question growled, but there was no heat in it, and though he’d never admit it, it was encouraging to hear the magician at least attempting his usual cheer again.

“Do you need me here all night?” he asked then, and after thinking about it for a moment the sorcerer cautiously shook his head.

“I…don’t think so. A shorter time of direct interaction is probably equivalent to a full night of indirect…” he trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief again, and Kurogane could see despair and a tiny hint of hope in those brilliant eyes.

Nodding sharply in contrast, he rose. “Then I’ll go, and come back tomorrow night. I’ll get the boy looking through the Archives to see what he can find.” He began to head for the bridge, but a near-inaudible whisper stopped him as he passed the throne.

“Thank you…your Majesty.”

Kurogane closed his eyes briefly, then continued on, not murmuring “You’re welcome,” until he was stepping onto the bridge. Somehow, he thought that the sorcerer could hear him anyway.

^~^~^~^~^~^

By the time the King returned to his own palace, it was nearly noon, for he had waited for full sunlight before risking the trip back down the mountain.

He did not protest when the Chamberlain ushered him up to his quarters for a hot meal (followed closely by a hovering Duke Touya and Souma), though he did refuse a bath for the time being, instead sending a (grumbling) Touya off to find the Archivist.

Syaoran and Sakura arrived presently. Kurogane had the feeling that it was going to be awhile before he saw one without the other again. The Duke was a mere few steps behind them, and they all bowed before settling in to hear what he had to say.

“What happened, your Majesty? Did you find him?” the Archivist (and now Prince) asked immediately.

“Yes,” Kurogane said, and then proceeded to explain briefly in between mouthfuls. “He’s been cursed for nearly two hundred and sixty years, to go sit down in that place.”

“And the other people? What about the princesses?” Touya wanted to know, still angry. “He took them!”

“A compulsion, he says, and I don’t think he’s lying,” Kurogane said evenly before going on, “he needs to be…seen, acknowledged, I guess. Now, he’s fading because there’s no one there to see him.”

“That’s terrible!” Sakura burst out, upset. “Father, we have to do something!”

“I’ll see to that,” Kurogane said, not stating specifically _how_ he was going to do so. He continued quickly, “that’s why I need you, boy. Go through the library and see if you can figure out who he might be; part of this curse is that he can’t remember anything from before it happened.”

Syaoran nodded quickly. “I’ll get right on it, your Majesty!” He bowed and hurried off.

“Is there anything I can do, Father?” Sakura wanted to know, coming to stand by him, her face still worried.

“I don’t think so,” he admitted, “other than helping the boy.”

At that suggestion, though, her face cleared and she nodded quickly. “Then I’ll go help Syaoran!”

She hurried off, and Kurogane watched with concealed amusement as Yukito skillfully distracted Touya from following her by requesting his help with some paperwork. The Duke grumbled, but did not protest, and once Yukito had Kurogane’s other servants preparing a bath, the two of them went off.

Souma remained. “You’ll be going back out there again tonight, won’t you, your Majesty?” she asked knowingly.

“Yes,” Kurogane said, applying himself to his food.

“Your Majesty-”

“It is not open to question, Captain,” he said, quiet but firm, looking up and meeting her eyes fully.

She started to say more, then gave him a thoughtful look and subsided. “Yes, your Majesty. May I at least have permission to station guards at the entrance to the mountain path?”

“Yes,” he allowed at once, knowing that it would make her feel better. When she still did not move to leave, he raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “Anything else, Captain?”

She hesitated, then shook her head, bowing to hide what he thought was a quiet, almost pleased smile. “No, your Majesty. I will escort you out later this evening.”

He grunted in assent and waved her off.

Finishing his food, Kurogane then went to soak in the hot tub, wondering whether or not Syaoran would find any answers, how much help he could really be to the magician, and why he wanted to help at all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the King and the Magician converse, and the Princess and the Archivist embark on an Epic Library Search and discover Something Interesting.

True to her word, Souma escorted him to the beginnings of the path to the sorcerer’s cave, and left two guards posted there to await his safe return. Kurogane found that practice was making the journey easier and faster, for which he was grateful, since he didn’t know how many nights he would need to come.

The almost desperate relief that flashed through the magician’s blue eyes when he appeared in the ruins of the castle reinforced his decision, though, and he found himself a larger piece of marble from the broken wall to sit on.

He eyed the magician closely. “Don’t think you’ve faded anymore, magician.”

“No,” the blue-eyed man agreed, “thanks to Your Most Remarkably Pulchritudinous Illustriousness.”

Kurogane blinked at him, then scowled. “Using words I haven’t even heard of doesn’t make them better, idiot magician.”

The man chuckled, and the sound wasn’t too forced, so Kurogane hid his own pleased smirk in favor of pretending to scowl more. They fell silent for a little while, not uncomfortable, but Kurogane thought that there wasn’t much point in him coming if they were just going to sit staring at each other all night.

“Well,” he began, a tad gruffly for sociability had never been a strong point of his, “what did you want to talk about?”

The magician seemed to genuinely contemplate that, before shaking his head self-deprecatingly and giving the King a half-smile. “Anything.”

“If you can’t remember anything, then how do you still know magic?” Kurogane asked then, since it was the first thing that came into his head. Of course, the subject of his curse probably wasn’t something the sorcerer was particularly fond of, but he had said ‘anything.’ “Or did you learn it after you were cursed?”

“No,” was the immediate reply, and the man frowned thoughtfully. “I already knew that when I woke to find my memories gone and the curse in place. All of my book learning was intact.”

Meaning it was only _personal_ things that he couldn’t remember. That alone would leave little doubt that there was something foul afoot, even without the rest of the curse. “So you can still go out and help people during the day.”

“Yes,” the magician said, nodding slowly, shifting a little on the black marble throne. Kurogane had a strange thought that he would look less out of place on that throne than on his own white-marble one, dressed as he usually was in darker colors, black and red. “Although being with people during the day doesn’t help the curse at all, it…”

He trailed off, looking away, and Kurogane eyed him curiously. “What?”

“…I don’t like being alone,” the sorcerer admitted at last in a small voice, “being with people helped with that, if not with the curse.”

Kurogane paused at that admission, and looked at the magician intently for a long moment. He wasn’t sure how to answer that, but at last said, gruffly and refusing to look at the other man, “Well, we’ll get you out of here and then you can bother people as much as you want.”

“Your Resplendent Greatness is too kind,” the sorcerer murmured, voice teasing, but Kurogane could see that same, desperate hope flash through his eyes again, and decided that he might ignore the title, just this once.

“Hn,” he grumbled, rising from the stone block and beginning to pace the area around the throne. “What do you usually do when you are out helping people?”

Seeming relieved for a new topic, the magician took it up quickly, explaining what he did with his days. Kurogane was somewhat surprised to hear just how much the other man did for the people of the kingdom, taking pay only when they could afford it, and doing much more than just basic magical services. Arbitration when a magistrate wasn’t available or trusted, advice to solve conflicts between neighbors or within families, even occasional help organizing festivals or other celebrations; Kurogane could wish that some of his own ministers and magistrates were as dedicated. He was also annoyed (and a tad embarrassed) that all of this had escaped his attention for so long (though admittedly the magician had been doing it since well before Kurogane had even been born).

Eventually, they passed from that into other topics, and the hours passed more swiftly than Kurogane had supposed they would.

“It is drawing near to morning,” the sorcerer said, cutting himself off mid-sentence. He paused, seeming to push away some unwanted emotion, then looked back at the red-eyed King with a calculatedly mischievous smirk. “Your Ravishing Sublimity should be getting home.”

Kurogane nodded and started for the bridge, then stopped and narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Did you just call me ‘ravishing’?”

The sorcerer merely smirked more and bowed in his seat.

Growling, he stalked off towards the bridge and the long stair, muttering under his breath about idiot magicians who didn’t know when to keep their mouths shut, and pretending that he wasn’t smirking in reply.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Syaoran, having climbed to the top of the bookshelf ladder, found himself rather dizzy and paused a moment to close his eyes and lean his forehead against the smooth old wood.

He’d been searching the library for three days, and had yet to find any mention of a sorcerer of the kingdom being cursed. He’d looked everywhere he’d thought plausible; court records, palace records, histories, even a few books of old myths and legends, but all to no avail.

He was tired, hungry, frustrated, and completely unwilling to abandon the search.

“Your Highnesses should come and get some food and rest,” came a voice from below, and Syaoran looked down the ladder to see the Chamberlain pleading with Sakura. His wife had rarely left his side, searching as diligently as he was, and the thought of her discomfort was what finally brought him down the ladder.

“But we still haven’t found-” she was protesting to Yukito, but Syaoran put a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently at her.

“He is right, Princess. We should at least take a rest.”

“I suppose,” she said, looking around at the stacks of books with a hint of despair. Then she shook her head firmly, and straightened her shoulders. “Very well. After a break, we’ll be better able to concentrate, and try even harder.”

“Yes,” Syaoran agreed firmly, and Yukito sighed with relief, smiling and gesturing them out of the library.

“I am glad that your Highnesses are working so hard,” he admitted, “but you must take care to look after yourselves as well. It will not do his Majesty or the sorcerer any good if you fall ill.”

The prince and princess nodded, and (with longing, frustrated backward glances) left the library for a hot meal and some sleep.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane crouched on the cracked floor near the black marble throne, playing with pieces of inlay he’d been collecting over the past few nights, shifting them around to see if he could get them to fit together again. It must have been beautiful, he thought, if these few broken pieces were anything to go by.

The two men had been sitting in a comfortable silence for awhile, the white-robed magician watching curiously from his black seat as the King fitted glittering shards of gems together as best he could.

Slowly, the picture began to emerge, fragmented as it might be; it was a bird, with gold and scarlet feathers like flame, wings outstretched.

“A phoenix,” the magician murmured, voice distant, “a mythical bird that every five hundred years is consumed in flame and then reborn from its own ashes.”

Kurogane gazed at it and nodded, thinking that it was beautiful, and that the magician seemed to like it. /Maybe I’ll have one of the artists put up some in the palace,/ he thought vaguely, /they’ll be glad for a chance to redecorate./

He rose from his crouch, dusting off his hands and stepping carefully over the reconstructed bird to reach his seat on the fallen marble block. “What should we talk about now, magician?”

“Anything,” the blue-eyed man said, as always, but then he shook his head. “No…tell me about your family. I never really knew much about them….”

Kurogane blinked at the request, hesitated briefly, but then acquiesced with a nod.

“My grandfather was a cousin of the original royal family here - you might know that. He was the legitimately proclaimed heir, but didn’t take the throne ‘til later in his life, and there was a great deal of protest from some of the more ambitious nobles. There was warring on and off then until early in my father’s reign, when the last of the rebelling nobles were defeated.” That had been long before Kurogane himself was born, though, so he knew of it only from tales his father told him later.

“And since then, there has been much peace,” the sorcerer nodded slowly, seeming to look back on his own memories of being out amongst the people.

Kurogane nodded. “Yes. There’s been trouble with bandits, occasionally, but Queen Kendappa’s a good ally, and her country’s the only major one that borders this one, so foreign war isn’t really a threat.” He paused to think for a moment before going on. “My mother was very ill for most of her life, so it was many years before they could try having a child, and after I was born the doctors thought it would be too dangerous for her to have more, so I was the only heir.”

Here, he had to pause again, and push his personal grief aside that he might continue the story properly. “My mother died when I was fifteen. She and my father were always very close, and I think he knew that he wouldn’t survive her very long, so he insisted that I marry. She was a daughter of one of the noble families, and we’d been friends for many years, so neither of us minded too much. My father lived for another couple of years, but I think that he deliberately got reckless, because he was killed putting down a bandit raid on the south border.

“So I was King, at seventeen. Her Majesty and I got on well enough, I guess. She was very determined to give me appropriate heirs, though I never much cared if they were boys or girls. By the time Princess Sakura was born, though, she was already sick….” He trailed off, frowning, and the sorcerer closed his eyes and bowed his head.

“I am sorry for your loss,” he said softly.

The King shook his head slowly. His wife’s death saddened him, but more as the loss of a good friend than anything else.

“I fear that my coming made such a time worse,” the magician went on, voice still soft and noticeably regretful.

“She asked for the prophecy,” Kurogane said, bluntly, but didn’t refrain from scowling at the man, “though it must have been easier to give seeing as it was you who was going to fulfill it.”

The sorcerer gave a hollow laugh. “It is not as though I was given a choice. The compulsion took me somewhat at random. Twelve lovely, magically sensitive sisters must have triggered something; it was usually those magically inclined that I felt compelled to take. Your mother had magic in her blood, I think,” he said, leaning forward and eyeing the King astutely for a moment.

“Yes,” Kurogane admitted, slightly taken aback, “she did. She worked some magic herself, though not as much as previous members of her family, from what I know.”

The magician nodded, sitting back in his throne. They fell silent again for a time, until the magician stirred and said that it was time for the King to leave. The flash of impending loneliness in blue eyes was sharper tonight, though, and made Kurogane pause.

So he paced forward slowly until he was standing directly in front of the throne, leaning down until he was on eye-level with the other man and their faces were close.

“Don’t try to touch-” the sorcerer started to warn, but Kurogane cut him off.

“Look at me, magician,” he ordered quietly, and blue eyes rose almost involuntarily to meet his own, widening when they had done so. The King kept his gaze steady and intense. “I promise that this curse will be broken. I will not allow my subjects to suffer such things. The boy and my youngest are working hard to find out what happened, so don’t you dare give up now.”

“I won’t,” the other man promised breathlessly, “I won’t.”

“Good.” Kurogane straightened, snagged his cloak off his usual seat, and took his leave, silently hoping that Syaoran and Sakura would find something soon. The magician had not faded any further yet, but Kurogane was fairly certain that it was only a matter of time before the man’s own despair undid the help his own presence signified. They were running out of time.

^~^~^~^~^~^

“Here’s another few, Syaoran,” Sakura said, giving him a tired but cheerful smile. He returned it as cheerfully as he could; they were both weary and worried that their search would ultimately prove fruitless, but the Prince-Archivist had to admit that doing it together helped to stave off those feelings.

“Thank you, Sakura,” he replied, still a bit delightedly shy at being able to use her name. But they were married now, and he hadn’t ever dreamed of being so happy. /Now if only we can make sure that the sorcerer has a happy ending too…./ “I’m just done with the last batch, so I’ll get started on these.”

She nodded at him, then left to go poke in another area of books. They had worked out a routine; first he would search for likely books while she looked through them all carefully, and then they would switch for awhile.

The first three in this stack were just as useless as the rest had been. They had started taking anything that looked even remotely like it might contain what they wanted two days ago, having gone through all the books where such an event was likely to be recorded.

The fourth book in this latest stack, however, was a little different. It was a collection of “legendary” court cases from foreign countries, but upon opening it, Syaoran realized that it did in fact contain a couple of stories from this country as well. Trying not to get his hopes up too much, he turned to the first of those and began to read.

Sakura wandered away from her husband, heading for the back corner she had been going through. Having checked all of the lower shelves, she thought it was probably best to at least climb the ladder and scan the higher shelves. A book might easily get lost up there.

Climbing the old, polished wood carefully, she began to slowly pull herself along, letting her hand and eyes run over the leather spines as she passed.

She was all the way to the opposite corner before something caught her attention, and it wasn’t any of the titles. The books she was running her fingers along had changed abruptly from the feel of leather to the feel of painted wood, and Sakura paused, blinking at them in confusion. That wasn’t right…

A few minutes more examination revealed that this section of books was in fact a cleverly disguised door, presumably hiding a small cupboard behind it. Curious, the princess poked and prodded at it, but all to no avail. It was shut securely.

But she was feeling inexplicably drawn to it, as if something inside were calling to her in some way. Under that growing sense of urgency, she set about exploring it in detail, to see if she could discover the mechanism that opened it.

Back at his table, Syaoran had scanned the first two stories relating to this country with little luck. Both were too old, and neither involved a sorcerer being cursed.

Starting in on the third one, though, his eyes widened slowly with each word as he realized that this was what they had been searching for. Completely absorbed in the story unfolding before him on the old pages, he did not hear his wife’s small cry from the back of the library.

Sakura let out a surprised exclamation as the concealed door gave way abruptly under her questing fingers, and she wobbled precariously on the ladder for a few seconds before steadying herself. Then, cautiously, she pulled the door the rest of the way open and peered inside.

Sitting inside the little wood cabinet was what appeared to be a statue of some kind. The creature was small and white, with rabbit-like ears, a round body and a large red jewel set into the center of its forehead. It was furry and soft to the touch, when she reached out a tentative hand, but it didn’t move. Thinking that it felt oddly warm for a statue, Sakura continued to examine it gently, at last reaching out to touch the pretty red gem….

“Mekyo!” The statue’s eyes popped open wide, jumping a little where it stood.

“Ah!” Sakura cried out, startled, and only just barely caught herself again. Syaoran appeared below her seconds later.

“Sakura! Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she replied, catching her breath and looking at the not-statue, whose eyes had closed again, but was definitely still moving. “What are you?” she asked of it softly.

“Mokona is Mokona!” It answered immediately, in a bright voice, “and you found Mokona! Mokona has been asleep for a very long time.” At that, it’s voice softened a little, tinged with sadness.

“What is it, Sakura?” Syaoran called up again, sounding puzzled.

“I’m…not sure,” she replied, “just a minute.” Turning back to the little white creature, she asked, “Can you come out?”

“Yes!” It bounced out onto her shoulder, and she shut the cupboard door carefully before descending to the floor. “Syaoran, this is…Mokona,” she introduced, a bit awkwardly.

“Mokona is pleased to meet you!” it said, bending itself forward a little as if bowing. “Who are you?”

“I am Syaoran,” he introduced himself, “I’m the Archivist. This is my wife, Princess Sakura.”

“Oh!” Mokona definitely bowed this time. “How did you find Mokona?”

“We are looking for a record of something,” Sakura explained, “so I was searching through the books and came across your cupboard. Something felt…different, so I wanted to open it. Are you magical?”

“Yep, yep!” Mokona bounced, then seemed to sadden a bit again. “Mokona is a magical companion. But it was a long sleep, and Mokona is worried….”

“Companion to who?” Sakura asked.

“A wizard-” Mokona began, but was cut off when Syaoran’s eyes widened again and he brandished the book he was holding excitedly.

“Sakura! I think we’ve found the right story! Maybe Mokona has something to do with it too. Let’s go tell his Majesty. Is that all right, Mokona?” he asked, remembering that he had interrupted.

“Yes!” the little creature answered. “If you can help Mokona’s master, then Mokona will be very happy!”

“Syaoran! That’s wonderful…I hope it’s right….”

“Only one way to find out,” he said firmly, before taking her hand. They ran out of the library, book and new magical friend in tow, heading for the King’s chambers as fast as they could.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Magician is freed from his curse, the King offers him a job, and Everyone lives Happily Ever After.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather vague implication of M/M sex in this chapter.

Kurogane stalked quickly across the onyx bridge that night, eager to get to the island.

Syaoran and Sakura had burst into his rooms earlier that afternoon, carrying a strange magical puffball with them and exclaiming that they had found it.

After getting all three (for the white thing talked as well, and was irritatingly cheerful) to calm down, Syaoran had explained more helpfully that he had come across what could only be the right story, showing Kurogane the book. The King had read the story himself, and had concurred with the boy’s assessment. Excited, they had urged him to go right away, and since it was nearly time for him to head up into the mountains anyway, he agreed. He had stopped long enough on the way out to warn Souma that he was going to try and break the curse fully, so she shouldn’t worry if he was longer than usual. The Captain, predictably, did not look happy at this news, but merely nodded and promised to keep guards posted as she had been. He had then hurried up the mountain, into the sorcerer’s cave and down the long, dark stairs….

He stepped off the bridge and on to the island proper.

“Good evening, Your Most Prestigious…” the magician let his latest absurdity trail off as Kurogane stepped around the throne to stand in front of him, face solemn and scarlet eyes intense.

“About two hundred and sixty years ago,” he began without preamble, holding the sorcerer’s wide sapphire eyes, “the king of this kingdom hired a young sorcerer to be the new Court Wizard. The man’s name was Ashura,” here something flickered through the blue eyes, and the sorcerer seemed to tense, “and he had a friend, another sorcerer, who often worked closely with him. And that man’s name was Fai D. Flowright-”

The sorcerer went rigid on the throne as if he’d been struck, his eyes growing impossibly wider, full of shock and fear and _hope_ before they rolled up and his eyelids closed, his long hands suddenly clenching white-knuckled on the arms of the throne.

Kurogane watched, shocked himself and not sure what to do now. He was about to step forward when the world _rumbled_ under his feet and shook, and he was forced to throw out his arms just to keep his balance. The shaking lasted for a long moment before it finally died away and he could look up at the magician again.

He was still sitting rigid, eyes closed and head thrown back, mouth open in a silent cry. As Kurogane watched something shimmered into view around the man, a transparent, shining barrier hovering just above his skin. This, the King realized, was what had kept him from touching the man, when he’d tried to strangle him out in the country.

And then everything fell horribly, unnaturally still for one heartbeat, two, three….

“ _Fai_ ,” the sorcerer gasped out suddenly, as if he were having trouble drawing breath, “ _my name is Fai and I will be chained no longer!_ ”

And a great CRACK! of lightning drove down from the murky sky overhead, splitting the great black marble throne neatly in two and shattering the icy-glass barrier that had surrounded the sorcerer himself. The shockwave of it threw the man forward, and Kurogane nearly didn’t catch him before he hit the even-more cracked and breaking floor.

“Fai,” he murmured softly, looking down at the now-unconscious man, but the ground shuddered again, and he realized that he had to get out of here before the bridge collapsed.

That last mad dash across the tenuous onyx bridge was not an experience he ever hoped to repeat, and even the stairs themselves were beginning to crumble as he hurried up them, as fast as he could go without jolting too much the magician cradled in his arms. It was harder than it should have been, he thought, for it felt as though something was pushing at him, tendrils of darkness trying to pull them back and down, to be forever lost in the gloom. He fought it, gritting his teeth, and refused to give in.

Finally, with the last distant echoes of the Twilight Kingdom crumbling far behind them, Kurogane reached the edge of the golden light that marked the return to the normal world and the sorcerer’s - Fai’s - home. He managed to stumble the last few steps to the cushion-bed and deposit the still-unconscious magician on it gently, before letting himself drop to his knees.

“Told you I’d…get you out….” He muttered, feeling as though he’d been fighting for hours instead of just coming up a flight of stairs. “Fai.”

The blue-eyed man remained unconscious, but stirred a little at the sound of his name. Satisfied, Kurogane lowered his arms and head to the edge of the bed, and fell asleep.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane was woken by the sound of a pot clattering to the floor.

He jerked up, ignoring the pain that shot through his neck and back from sleeping in such a strange position, and whirled around to find the source of the noise that had startled him.

The sight of the magician half collapsed over the stone table in his “kitchen,” the empty pot still rattling on the floor, wasn’t what he was expecting, but equally worrisome in its own way.

“Magician,” he said, frowning and taking his hand from his sword hilt, “what are you doing up?” He crossed the short space between them in swift strides, scowling fully as Fai smiled cheerfully up at him, even as he had to sit down, gasping a little.

“Trying to make Your Stupendous Effulgence something to eat,” he managed.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Kurogane said gruffly, his stomach twisting strangely at the depth of gratitude brightening those too-blue eyes, the emotion strong enough that the sorcerer himself was trying to cover it under cheerfulness (which was, admittedly, not faked this time). “Here, let’s get you back to bed.”

He froze when Fai shrank back from his hand. “Magician?”

“I- I’m sorry,” the other man whispered, letting his pale gold hair fall forward to cover his face, “it’s just that….”

/It’s just that no one’s touched you for centuries,/ Kurogane finished the thought silently for him. He hesitated, then slowly knelt down next to the table and reached out again, gently brushing the hair aside and letting his palm come to rest against one pale cheek.

Fai flinched and gasped aloud, his eyes gone too wide again in an instant, his body tensing. Slowly, with effort, he turned his head until he was staring up at the King, a look full of shock and hope and a relief so great it looked like pain….

Seconds later, Kurogane found himself standing, his arms full of shivering sorcerer as the smaller man collapsed against him with another gasp that might almost have been a sob. He was silent after that, face buried against Kurogane’s shoulder, pale hands sliding around to grab at his dark cloak and _hold on_ , as if he’d be lost without an anchor.

/And maybe that’s just it,/ the red-eyed King realized, even as he himself stiffened with the unexpected proximity. The thought made him relax, though, and he raised his own hands tentatively to rub Fai’s back, gentle and slow, trying to ease his shivering.

They stood like that for a long time, silent, holding and being held, and when Fai finally drew away again, Kurogane thought that those summer-sky eyes no longer looked quite so broken inside.

“Thank you,” Fai whispered, turning away to hide some other intense emotion. He leaned on the table, took a deep breath, and then started to reach for the pot again. “I should find something for soup, at least-”

He yelped when Kurogane closed the distance between them again and picked him up, dumping him unceremoniously back on his bed. “You’ll do no such thing, idiot magician,” the King grumbled, crossing his arms and glaring down at the sheepishly grinning man. “Don’t you dare get off that bed again until you can walk across the length of the cave without help and without falling over.” He waited for the sorcerer’s quickly-concealed grimace and an agreeing nod before relaxing. “Good. Now lie there and rest. I’m perfectly capable of making soup, as long as you tell me where the food is.”

The sorcerer blinked at him. “Your Consummate Augustness has unexpected talents, it seems.”

“Will you ever stop with the ridiculous titles?” Kurogane muttered, not even needing the man’s unrepentant grin to tell him that the answer was “no.” “I’ve done my fair share of campaigns. Even the king ought to know how to cook simple things.”

Fai chuckled, still amused by the thought of it, then directed him to a cleverly concealed cupboard containing food and more dishes. A little while later, Kurogane brought two bowls of hot soup over to the bed, and they both ate with relish. Finished, the King looked back at the magician with the intention of asking him to further explain now that he had his memories back…only to find the other man yawning over his bowl.

“Here,” he said, leaning forward to take the mostly-empty bowl and then remove the dishes to the stone basin that seemed to be the magician’s sink. Then he returned to settle himself cross-legged against the side of the bed. “You should sleep again.”

“But-” another huge yawn interrupted the blue-eyed man briefly. “Your Respectable Stateliness shouldn’t sleep on the floor….”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kurogane said, marveling reluctantly at the fact that the man could still come up with the absurd titles when he was obviously half asleep already.

“At least…lie on some of the other cushions….” Giving in to yet another yawn, he lay down, still trying to keep his eyes open. “Please….”

“Once you’re asleep,” Kurogane agreed quietly. That seemed to satisfy the other man, for at last the blue eyes drifted closed. He was asleep seconds later, breathing deep and even.

Kurogane turned to watch him, still feeling a little shaken and almost awed at the depth of emotion he’d seen in that delicate face earlier. He wasn’t entirely sure he deserved it - it had been the kid and Sakura who had figured out who the man was, after all, and he wasn’t even sure why he had bothered to help him in the first place….

He was glad he had, though, he realized. As annoying as the magician might be sometimes, and despite the part he had played in the princesses’ curse…well, he was still a subject of Kurogane’s kingdom, and (if the story the kid had found was accurate) he very definitely had _not_ deserved that curse to begin with. Watching him sleep, seeing color and warmth where he had never seen them before in that pale face, Kurogane shook his head softly. To see this creature of sunlight and wind chained forever in that gloomy, twilight world….

/Enough. We need to get back tomorrow, which means both of us have to be rested./ The King cut his thoughts short and, true to his word, rose and moved to one of the other piles of cushions. He checked to make sure that his sword was close at hand before at last allowing his own crimson eyes to close as he realized that he was still exhausted. He too was soon fast asleep.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane was once again woken by the sound of pots, but this time it was the quieter clattering as they were moved around on the table and bumped into each other. He grumbled, rolling over and opening his eyes to find Fai once again up before him, though much steadier on his feet this time.

“Good morning, Your Somnolent Gloriousness!” the magician greeted him brightly as he sat up.

“Hn,” he grunted in reply, not bothering to dignify that with a further response. Peering towards the entrance of the cave, he could see that it was indeed daytime. He also realized that he wasn’t entirely sure how long it had been since he’d left the palace; it had been night the last time they’d woken, but _which_ night he wasn’t sure.

“We need to get back to the palace,” he said, rising and stretching again.

Fai, watching him out of the corner of his eyes, stilled briefly before looking back at his hands. “I- It’s fine if you wish to go,” he began hesitantly, “you’ve already spent so much time on…. They will be expecting you back.”

“They’ll be expecting _us_ back, yes,” Kurogane said pointedly, narrowing his eyes at the other man, “but we could eat a bit first, if you’ve got something ready.”

“It’s not much,” the magician shook his head, bringing bowls of stew to the table as Kurogane crossed the room. He hesitated, then sat down across from the King slowly, poking at his own bowl. Kurogane had no such compunctions, and dug in with relish, pleasantly surprised to find that the magician was also an excellent cook.

They were nearly done before the blue-eyed man got up the courage to whisper “Your Majesty…”

Kurogane looked up, meeting his eyes directly. “What is it, magician?”

“Do you really mean…for me to…come back with you?” The sorcerer’s head was lowered again so that his hair fell over his eyes.

“Of course!” Kurogane was indignant. Did the idiot really think he’d gone through all the trouble of breaking the damned curse just to leave him alone up here?

The magician was staring at him again, as if reading all of the words he didn’t say in his expression, and at last whispered, “All right,” a little breathless again, as though he still couldn’t quite believe it.

“Good,” Kurogane said, rising. “Get whatever you need for a little while and we’ll go.”

“I don’t think I’m up to taking us down the mountains with my magic just yet,” the smaller man warned, moving around the cave gathering books and clothes and other trinkets into a pack.

“That’s what I thought,” Kurogane nodded, having expected that they’d be walking. All the more reason to get going soon.

“Well,” the sorcerer said slowly, picking up pack and staff and looking around the cave, “I think that’s everything important.”

“It’s not like you can’t come back and get the rest of it later,” Kurogane reminded him quietly, noticing the magician’s reluctance to leave.

“I know. It’s just….” He stopped, shook his head and took a deep breath, then smiled at the King. “Shall we be off?”

So they left, wending their way carefully down the mountain. They did not speak much, though Fai chuckled at himself after stumbling a few times. “It’s been so long since I used this trail….”

“Why choose such a remote place to live if you like being around people?” Kurogane asked, figuring that such questions were more worthwhile now that the man had his memories back.

“It was quiet,” Fai explained softly, pausing on a ledge to wait for the King, the wind dancing around him. “And not all magic should be worked around other people. That is why the Court Wizard lives up in the castle’s tallest tower, is it not?”

“True,” Kurogane agreed. “But why so remote?”

Fai shrugged. “I like mountains. And it was more mysterious.” He winked at the King’s scowl, and they moved on.

It was still afternoon when they reached the bottom of the trail and were ushered back to the palace by a relieved Captain Souma and a full contingent of the Guard. Once back, both King and sorcerer were swept off to a smaller study where they could be fed and fussed over by Chamberlain Yukito, and those whom Kurogane deemed acceptable could gather and meet Fai. For his part, the magician introduced himself with great flourishes and bows, which the King thought were more to cover the man’s lingering shock and uncertainty than anything else.

Then, when they were done eating and everyone who ought to be there (the princesses, Syaoran, Souma, Duke Touya and Yukito) was settled in around the armchairs where the King and sorcerer were seated, the blue-eyed man took a deep breath and leaned back. He was about to begin when a voice called out “ _Fai!!_ ” and the white puffball bounded into the room, practically throwing itself into the magician’s lap.

“Mokona!” Fai exclaimed, eyes going wide again and obviously happy. “You’re all right!” He hugged the bouncing thing tight, making it squeak happily and sniffle.

“Mokona was worried about Fai! Mokona went to sleep, just like Fai said, but then Fai never came back….” It mumbled quietly into the magician’s shoulder.

“I know,” he replied, voice dropping briefly, “and I am sorry. I didn’t realize I’d be gone that long….How did you get out?”

“Sakura found me! But Fai still wasn’t back,” the thing snuggled closer, and Fai bent to press a kiss in between its ears.

“Well, I’m back now. And…it seems like I won’t be going anywhere for awhile,” he murmured, eyes sliding briefly to Kurogane before closing again. Then, with another deep breath and the puffball resting in his lap, the magician looked around at the gathered group and began.

“First of all, I must extend my deepest apologies to your Highnesses; had it been within my power to keep you out of this mess, I would have done so-” He was interrupted by headshakes from all twelve girls.

“It was not your fault, and all is well,” Tomoyo explained, smiling gently at him, “you are forgiven, many times over.” Her sisters all nodded in agreement. The magician had to bow his head again briefly, though Kurogane caught a glimpse of the almost pained gratitude that crossed it.

“Their Highnesses take after you,” Fai said softly to him, “so very kind.”

“Hn,” Kurogane grunted softly, crossing his arms and sitting back.

“Then I thank your Highnesses, with all my heart,” the blue-eyed man went on, and straightened. “And in thanks, please allow me to explain what I can of my story.

“I was born in this nation two hundred and ninety years ago. My parents died shortly after I was born; I never knew how or why. Fortunately for me, I was taken in by another family, who raised me along with their own son.

“His name was Ashura, and as we grew we became very close friends. Both of us were magically inclined, and we studied together from an early age. We completed our initial masteries in our mid-twenties. At that time, the king here offered Ashura a job as the Court Wizard. He specified the provision that I should be allowed to assist him whenever he thought it necessary, and accepted. I was happy with the arrangement myself; I liked the palace, but the constraints of officially being Court Wizard were not much to my taste. I moved into my home up in the mountains, and came down often to be either at the palace or out amongst the people.

“For several years, everything went well, and we were happy. Then, around the time I turned thirty, I began to detect the presence of a…less savory group of magic users who had appeared. I suspected that they were working in necromancy, and began to dig further into their activities, to see if I could find out who they were and what they were up to, and whether or not I could stop them. I told Ashura what I was doing of course, but since I had more freedom of movement than he did, it made more sense for me to do most of the investigation.

“And…I must have been getting closer to them than I had realized, and was not as careful as I had supposed, because they found out and decided to stop me. Unfortunately, the investigation had kept me away from court for longer than usual, and I didn’t know that one of them had somehow infiltrated court and-” he cut off briefly, the memory obviously painful. The white thing cooed softly at him, and Fai petted it, laughing a little to try and cover his hurt. “Well, Ashura _hadn’t_ heard from me for awhile, and someone convinced him that _I_ was in league with these necromancers, and just using the investigation as a means to cover it up. He was…quite upset, needless to say, for they had manufactured quite a lot of circumstantial evidence to support it. Even then, it still might have been all right, but then the necromancers took his parents-”

Again, the magician had to stop and lower his head.

“Please don’t push yourself,” Tomoyo said, her delicate face creased by a frown, “you are weak yet from the curse-breaking.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” he murmured, gratefully accepting her hand when she rose and came to sit at his feet. “It will be fine. The memories are just so new again…” he took a deep breath and collected himself.

“Confronted with that loss, and presented then with evidence that I, his best friend and foster brother, was at least partially responsible, he lost all reason. He came to the cave, and told me all of that. He did hear out my plea, but…well, I have been known for my acting skills, at times, and he was too far gone in his own grief and shock to accept that mine might be genuine as well. Then he cast the curse….” The magician trailed off once more, his eyes distant and sad. “It was a very powerful curse. When next I woke, it was with the compulsion to enter the Twilight Kingdom, and all memories of who I was and what had happened gone. I prayed that someone would come find me. No one ever did.” He paused briefly, then looked up with a close-eyed smile. “And that is as far as I may tell, for after that point I was bound and did not remember the rest of the story. Perhaps you know?” He looked over to Syaoran and Sakura, who nodded quickly.

“We found an old book of legendary court cases, you see,” the Prince-Archivist explained, holding his wife’s hand. Kurogane thought that Fai’s smile became a bit more genuine when he looked at the two of them. “If you don’t mind, I will finish the story, though it may be hard for you to hear, sir.”

The sorcerer shook his head gently. “My name is Fai. And I had already supposed that there could not be a happy ending. Please, I would like to know it.”

“Very well,” Syaoran said, and after a quick glance at Kurogane, he took up the tale.

“Court Wizard Ashura was killed by the group of necromancers you were hunting, probably just a few days after he cursed you. He was on leave from his duties at the time, alone and off-guard,” the brown-eyed boy began without preamble, getting the worst out of the way as quickly as possible. “It was at that point that the King truly realized something was wrong, for though they did their best to make it appear a suicide, it was not quite convincing. Worried, the King called in another very powerful sorcerer who lived on the outskirts of the kingdom, much as Mistress Yuuko does now. His name was Clow Reed, and he was the one who caught the group and brought them to trial. Their leader, and the man who had infiltrated court and the Court Wizard’s confidences was named Fei Wong-Reed, a relative of Master Clow’s. The entire group were tried for conspiracy and murder, convicted, and executed. The executions were overseen by Master Clow to make sure that nothing strange took place. Many things came out in that trial, but the existence of Master Ashura’s friend, and the fact that he had been cursed, were only mentioned in passing. Fei Wong-Reed did admit to being the one who taught Master Ashura that particular curse (which was very elaborate, as we have seen), but unfortunately one of its early side-effects was that it was hard to remember anything about it, including the victim. By the time anyone might have remembered, it was too late, and your existence, Master Fai, had already been largely forgotten.” Syaoran paused and bowed his head to Fai, who allowed himself to smile sadly in return.

“Thank you,” the sorcerer said softly. “It is good to know. I had assumed, after regaining my memories, that Ashura must not have lived, for I do believe he would have come to lift the curse if he had survived and realized that I was not at fault.”

“You are officially pardoned of any possible suspicion or charges, as of now,” Kurogane said gruffly, “and the rest of you are all witness to that.” The rest of the audience, who had been quiet, held spellbound by the tale, nodded eagerly.

“That’s wonderful!” Tomoyo said, smiling up at him, and the magician smiled gently back.

“Yes. His Majesty is most kind.”

“A kind King! Puu~!” trilled the white thing, bouncing out of Fai’s lap to land on Kurogane’s head.

“Get off!” the red-eyed man growled, swiping at it and growling more when it bounced out of reach, giggling. It landed in Sakura’s lap and settled down, seeming to fall asleep. The King turned to the Chamberlain, who was hovering off to one side. “Have one of the guest bedrooms made up,” he ordered quietly. Yukito nodded and hurried off.

“What did the curse do?” Tomoyo asked Fai. “Can you speak of it? Because the spell was broken for us, but not for you….”

“Yes,” Fai said. “I am still not entirely sure what spell he cast on me, though it did seem to be one where my- well, where the details come from the person on which the spell is cast. I…enjoyed balls and dances a great deal. Hence, I was compelled to lure in those who would dance while I watched. As for me, it was necessary only to sit, to watch and be watched.” His voice was soft to hide a tremor as he remembered. Then he yawned, blinking in surprise as it passed. “Oh! Pardon me, your Highnesses.”

“You need more rest,” Kurogane said sternly, rising, “and everyone else should rest as well. Time enough for more talk tomorrow.”

“Of course, Father,” Tomoyo said, rising gracefully. “Come sisters. Goodnight Father. Goodnight Master Fai.”

“Goodnight, your Highnesses,” Fai said, smiling at them, “may you have none but pleasant dreams.”

“Goodnight,” Kurogane said, allowing a quick hug from each of the girls and accepting Syaoran’s bow, then watching with ill-concealed fondness as they left. Sakura still had the sleeping white thing cradled carefully in her arms. He shook his head. When they and Duke Touya and Souma had all departed, he turned back to the magician. He found the other man smirking softly at him, which made him scowl in automatic response.

“Your royal daughters are lovely and kind, Excellent and Wondrous King,” he murmured softly, teasing and serious at the same time.

“You should get in bed,” Kurogane said, not bothering to acknowledge what was obviously true. “And what happened to the ridiculous titles?” he grumbled as the mage rose gracefully to his feet.

“They were not pleasing to you, O Exacting King,” he murmured, coming closer so that Kurogane could not miss his smirk.

He grimaced at the shorter man, but did not step away. “You’re never going to stop, are you?”

Fai did not answer, merely smirked more. “What would the Stringent King have me say?”

“Just ‘your Majesty’ would be fine,” he grumbled. They were close enough that he could feel the other man’s warmth. He paused, not knowing quite what to do, feeling his breath catch as something shifted in the magician’s blue eyes-

“Fai!” Both men started back, and Mokona bounced into the room. “It’s bedtime!”

“Ah, of course Mokona. I should sleep,” Fai recovered himself quickly, catching the creature up in his arms. Yukito appeared in the doorway then, smiling and beckoning.

“If you’ll follow me, Master Fai, I have your room ready.”

“Certainly,” Fai smiled in return and took a step towards the door before pausing and looking back at Kurogane. “Goodnight, King Most Kind and Wise.”

Kurogane ignored that, still holding the magician’s gaze, searching for and not quite finding whatever had been there a moment ago. “Goodnight, magician.”

They went out, and Kurogane stood there for a long time. Everything was fine; the curse was now fully broken, the magician was being taken care of, the rest would fall into place.

At last, he retired to his bedroom, wondering why he felt as though something had been left undone.

^~^~^~^~^~^

Kurogane rolled over yet again, and finally gave up. Levering himself out of bed with a growl, he threw on a robe over his sleeping clothes and paced out onto the small balcony the led off his bedchamber, looking out over the dark land and star-strewn sky. Somewhere, a bell was tolling midnight.

Frowning softly now, he went to the rail and stood there, hesitating for a long time. At last, going with his instinct, he let out a low whistle, very softly, and said “Magician?” to the quiet night air, hoping that it wouldn’t wake the other man if he were sleeping.

Though it grew slowly, the blue-white light heralding the magician’s arrival appeared almost immediately, indicating that he probably hadn’t been sleeping. Once he had materialized, the King could see that he hadn’t even fully changed out of his clothes; he was barefoot, but still wore his usual shirt and pants. Kurogane glared lightly at him.

“You ought to be sleeping,” he grumbled, turning back to the view.

Fai gave him an amused look. “Yet, the Great and Self-Contradictory King is the one summoning me in the middle of the night, and is not in bed himself.”

“I’m not the one recovering from a curse, idiot,” he pointed out shortly, still not looking at the other man.

“Why did you summon me?” Fai asked at last, after a prolonged, slightly awkward silence.

“I need a Court Wizard,” Kurogane replied, never one to mince words. Now he did look over, gauging the other man’s reaction. “Would you like the position?”

Blue eyes went wide. “Me?” he breathed, stepping forwards and starting to reach out, as if needing to catch hold of the words and feel them. “You want… _me_ to be your Court Wizard?”

“Yes,” Kurogane said, turning his back to the railing and leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest. “You’ve been doing a lot of the job for years anyway, it sounds like, helping people. Only now you’d help around here too, when I need it. The tower’s open, too, so you’ll have somewhere to stay. So? Will you do it?”

Fai had stopped moving as he spoke, arms dropping to his sides, head bowing until the unruly golden strands covered his face in shadow. For a long moment he remained like that, utterly still, then abruptly began to shiver with what Kurogane slowly realized was laughter.

“ _Will_ I?” the magician breathed, finally looking up, and although he was indeed laughing, there were tears threatening in those summer-sky eyes as well. “ _Will_ I accept such an offer…? Oh, my noble, gracious, kind, _amazing_ King, of _course_ I will!” He broke off, eyes widening again as he realized how much emotion he was allowing to show, and turned his back, wrapping his arms around himself and hunching over.

“I’m not-” Kurogane began to protest automatically, not sure how to react to that.

“You _are_ ,” the sorcerer whispered fiercely, tone allowing for no argument. “You _are_. What else would you have me say? My King, my Savior, my only Lord. You saved me from a fate far, far worse than death, and then, as if that were not enough, you offer me a _home, work,_ a _life_? What else could I say? What else could I do?”

Kurogane frowned. “Don’t you dare accept because you think you _owe_ me something-”

The sorcerer made a strange choking sound, and since he couldn’t tell whether it was more laughter or a sob, Kurogane found himself striding quickly across the balcony and wrapping his arms around the smaller man from behind. Fai stiffened, but Kurogane rubbed his hands hesitantly up and down the sorcerer’s crossed arms, and he melted, falling back against the King and letting out the soft, shaking sobs he’d been holding in for who-knew-how long.

When at last they had stopped, Fai took a deep, shuddering breath and whispered, “I accept your offer, my gracious King. I accept because it sounds wonderful and I can think of nothing I would like better than to live here in this palace with you and your lovely daughters and your wonderful subjects.”

“Good,” Kurogane said simply, and since Fai made no move to pull away, he made none to let go. It felt…good to hold the other man. Good in ways that it probably shouldn’t, he was beginning to realize, but still he didn’t want to let go….

And Fai was leaning back again, letting his head fall to rest on Kurogane’s shoulder, looking up at him with open blue eyes, and the King felt his breath catch at the look in them. There was _need_ there, yes, that lingering need for touch from someone, anyone. But there too were heat and desire that had to do only with _Kurogane_ , and that was reassuring; he would never want to do this if the other man didn’t truly want it as well.

But Fai did want him, and Kurogane found that it was not so hard to admit that he wanted the sorcerer too, not with the other man right here, so close and warm and _wanting_. Almost before he realized what they were doing, the smaller man had turned in his arms and he had leaned down and they were kissing, softly at first, but then deeper, letting the heat build between them until they had to break apart, gasping softly.

“Your Majesty…” Fai started, but stopped when the King shook his head.

“Kurogane. Here, my name is Kurogane,” he said, leaning down and brushing their mouths together again, lightly, teasing. Then he paused and drew back, narrowing his eyes at the sorcerer suspiciously. “But only if you can say it _right_ , with no funny nicknames.”

Fai grinned at him, a wide, _happy_ smile that made Kurogane’s heart feel strange for a moment. Then the sorcerer winked at him and the grin slid into a smirk. “We’ll see, Kurogane.”

“Hn,” the King grunted, and they kissed again, pressing closer together. When they broke apart this time, it was Kurogane’s turn to chuckle darkly, amused at the thought that had occurred to him. He ran his hands up the smaller man’s sides and out along his arms, grabbed his hands and twirled him into the steps of a dance. He danced Fai off the balcony and back into his bedroom, enjoying the magician’s surprised expression and then his delight. He stopped at the edge of the bed (which suddenly looked much more inviting than it had just a little while ago), and only chuckled again when the blue-eyed man made an impatient noise and pulled them both down onto it.

“So, is this one of my perks?” the sorcerer wanted to know, tangling their legs together and pulling on Kurogane’s shirt.

“No,” the King growled, leaning down to nip at his neck and running a hand through that lovely golden hair. “This is just for us.” And he stopped, moving to meet the other man’s eyes, because this was serious and he meant it. “Because we both want it.”

There was something much deeper than lust filling those sapphire eyes right now, but Kurogane was pretty sure he was feeling the same thing, so it was all right.

“Yes,” Fai whispered, “yes!”

They kissed once more, softly, before the sorcerer lost his patience again and rolled them over, tugging on various articles of clothing; Kurogane chuckled and let him.

And then there were no more words; just the two of them, spending the next hours learning each other as intimately as possible, falling asleep only just before dawn, still tangled up together.

^~^~^~^~^~^

A week later, Kurogane found himself sitting on his throne waiting for morning court to start, forced to let the Chamberlain do his job in opening the doors and announcing everything the way he should. For that, he sent a half-hearted glare at a certain wizard who stood off to his right, leaning on his staff and dressed in elegant new court robes, blue and white and gold. Tomoyo had been busy; the new Court Wizard had been only too happy to accept her offer of a new wardrobe.

Fai took the glare in stride, merely smiling pleasantly and gesturing Kurogane’s attention elsewhere as the first petitioner of the day approached. Pushing his grumbling aside - the man was certainly taking a lot of liberties with the “advisory” part of being Court Wizard - Kurogane applied himself to his own duties.

When the last petitioner had bowed and was gone, Kurogane took a moment to lean back and survey his court. It was, he thought with satisfaction, back to the way it should be; his subjects, officials and courtiers mingled with his twelve daughters, who moved like bright gems through the crowd, warm and laughing once again.

“Your Disputatious Cantankerous Deliberative Majesty is better at this sort of thing than I had supposed,” the wizard said, stepping up closer beside him, smiling pleasantly.

Kurogane glared. Just because it was the man’s first day actually attending him at court didn’t mean he was going to cut him any slack. “I really will strangle you.”

“Of course,” Fai said, still smiling.

Kurogane stared at him suspiciously, waiting.

“…Your Most Hawkishly Bellicose Tempestuous Majesty,” the blue-eyed man went on, still smiling.

“All right, that’s _it_.” Kurogane growled, lunging out of his chair at the magician, who jumped back with a delighted grin. Then the idiot had the audacity to _wink_ at him, and the King growled again, deeper this time, and gave chase all too happily when the sorcerer took off for the far end of the room.

Syaoran and Sakura paused in astonishment (like everyone else in court) to see the new Court Wizard dash past pursued closely by the King. The entire room was silent except for the magician’s laughter and the King’s angry curses as they disappeared out the great double doors and down the hallway.

The room remained silent, the court unsure what to make of this, until Sakura slowly smiled and started to giggle, only making a token attempt to hide it behind her hand.

When all heads turned to look at her, she got a hold of herself, but smiled even wider as she explained, “It’s good to see Father so happy and energetic again.” Syaoran found himself (and all the rest of the court), slowly nodding in agreement.

Elsewhere in the palace, Fai (having persuaded his King to pin him up against the wall in a convenient nook) was thinking something similar.

_And they all lived happily ever after._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a soft spot for fairy tales, and for this one in particular, so this was very fun to write. 
> 
> Much praise is due to my beta, [](http://leathansparrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**leathansparrow**](http://leathansparrow.livejournal.com/), for ~~enabling~~ encouraging me and the giving me the suggestion of strange titles instead of nicknames.


End file.
